Dec. 20, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Thanks to a school-record and nationally-ranking performance at last weekend's Blue/White Meet, senior Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.) has been named the USATF Athlete of the Week, announced by the national office in Indianapolis on Thursday. Cox rolled out a blistering 1:09.19 for 500-meters, bettering her own Penn State standard (1:10.30) by over a second.
Cox's record run is also one of the all-time best performances in the event, as she now ranks fifth among Americans, and stands as the second-fastest collegiate in history. Jearl Miles-Clark is the current American record holder at 1:08.71, which was also run at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. In fact, four of the top six all-time marks were clocked in Happy Valley, including Hampton's Francena McCorory, who ran 1:09.16 to set the collegiate record last January.
Cox, a seven-time All-American and nine-time Big Ten Champion, is undoubtedly one of the favorites for this year's NCAA 400-meter crown and a key leg on Penn State's national-ranked 4x400-meter relay team, which finished fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year. The Westbury, N.Y., product, who holds a grand total of eight Nittany Lion records, closed out her junior campaign last spring with a runner-up finish in the 400 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and was named the Penn State Female Athlete of the Year following her outstanding 2007 season.
Next up for Cox and the Nittany Lions is the Penn State Relays, scheduled for January 12, 2008 at Ashenfelter Indoor Track.
All-Time U.S. List
1:08.71 - Jearl Miles Clark (January 31, 2004)
1:08.82 - Joetta Clark (January 30, 1988)
1:09.16 - Francena McCorory (January 27, 2007)
1:09.19 - Shana Cox (December 15, 2007)