June 19, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio - One week out from the U.S. Olympic Trials, some of the younger Nittany Lion track and field standouts will also get a chance to represent the United States, competing at the USATF Junior National Championships at Ohio State University, June 20-22. The top two finishers in each event - who have achieved the world qualifying standard - will win to the opportunity to compete for the U.S.A. in international competition at the IAAF Junior World Championships, to be held Bydgoszcz, Poland.
To be eligible for junior competition, athletes may not turn 20 before the end of the 2008 calendar year. The field will include both collegians as well as high school athletes. Representing the Lions this weekend will be soon-to-be sophomore Blake Eaton (Allegeny, N.Y.), Joe Kovacs (Nazerath, Pa.), Karlee McQuillen (Johnstown, Pa.), Kim Hanslovan (Luthersburg, Pa.), Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.), and Gabriela Baiter (Greenlawn, N.Y.).
McQuillen - the NCAA East Region Champion - enters the weekend as the top seed in the javelin with a American Junior Record mark of 176-2 (53.70), which she threw in the preliminary round at the NCAA Championships last week. McQuillen earned All-America honors with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA meet. Teammate Hanslovan will also compete in the javelin, coming off a sixth-place finish at the regional meet, falling just short of an NCAA berth.
Eaton and Kovacs will both compete in the shot put competition, entering the event with marks of 56-9.50 (17.31) and 55-3.75 (16.91), respectively. Eaton finished off his freshman season with an appearance at the East Regional last month.
Fung is among the top five entrants in the long jump with a PR 20-1.50 (6.13). Fung, who finished ninth in the Big Ten long jump, was also a regional qualifier as a freshman. Baiter will represent the Lions in the triple jump with personal-best leap of 41-11.50 (12.79) from the indoor season. Baiter was a provisional qualifier indoors, attained the regional standard outside, and managed an eighth-place finish at the conference meet as a freshman.
Action begins in Columbus on Friday. Follow all the results at www.usatf.org.