Aug. 4, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Four athletes with Penn State ties are slated to compete in the IAAF World Championships in London, England Aug. 4-13 at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - the site of the 2012 Olympic Games. Joe Kovacs, Darrell Hill, Isaiah Harris, Eddie Lovett and Keianna Albury will represent their countries competing for a chance to become a World Champion.
Joe Kovacs, a 2011 Penn State alum, enters the meet as the defending IAAF World Champion from 2015 in Beijing, China. Kovacs is also the reigning silver medalist from last summer's Rio Olympic Games. The Nazareth, Pa. native enters the meet with a season and personal best of 74'-0.75" (22.57m) set earlier this season in Tucson, Ariz. Kovacs qualified for the IAAF meet with a second-place finish at the U.S. Championships last month in Sacramento, Calif. Kovacs still holds the Penn State school record in the shot put with his mark of 69'-2" (21.08m) from 2012.
Kovacs will share the shot put ring with teammate and fellow Penn Stater Darrell Hill who is set to compete in his first IAAF World Championship following an appearance at the Rio Olympics last summer. Hill enters the meet with a season and personal best of 71'-10.75" (21.91m) set in Los Angeles, Calif. Hill punched his ticket to London with a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Championships in Sacramento, Calif. finishing with a mark of 67'-7" (20.60m). Hill still sits at No. 2 on the Penn State all-time list in the shot put with his mark of 68'-5.25" (20.86m) back in 2015.
Current Nittany Lions Isaiah Harris and Keianna Albury will step on the big stage in the 800-meters and 4x100-meter relay, respectively.
Harris qualified for the IAAF meet after a personal best performance in the 800-meters at the U.S. Championships where the sophomore from Lewiston, ME posted a time of 1:44.53 in a second-place finish at the U.S. Championships. Harris capped his NCAA season this year with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. narrowly missing out on the NCAA crown behind UTEP's Emmanuel Korir who finished in 1:45.03 - thirty seven-hundredths ahead of Harris. The school record holder for Penn State, Harris has also captured four consecutive Big Ten title in the 800-meters as well as setting the all-time Big Ten indoor record in the event at 1:46.24 in 2016 as a true freshman.
Keianna Albury will represent the Bahamas running a leg on the 4x100-meter relay. The sophomore from Nassau, Bahamas earned a spot on the team following a strong showing at the Bahamas Championships in the 100-meters and 200-meters. Albury wrapped up her second year in Happy Valley that included helping her 4x100-meter relay team lay down the fifth-fastest time in the event in program history clocking 44.77 at the NCAA East Preliminary in Lexington, Ky.
Penn State volunteer assistant coach Eddie Lovett will also compete in the 110-meter hurdles.
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