Jan. 17, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Bolstered by NCAA provisional-qualifying marks from Clarence Smith (Coatesville, Pa.), Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.), and Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), the Nittany Lion track and field teams continued to impress during the early indoor season, Saturday at the Penn State Open at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Smith posted a provisional-qualifying and personal-best leap of 52-04.50 (15.96) to win the triple jump, signing his name of the NCAA list for the first time this season, while Greaves scurried to a PR 23.77 to win the women's 200-meters, also making her way to the NCAA standings for the first time in 2009. Fritz, who owned the second-best high jump performance in the nation going into the weekend, bettered his season best to 7-02.25 (2.19), winning the event for the second-straight week.
Shavon Greaves |
"The Penn State Open provided our program a second opportunity to perform at home in front of a great crowd and amongst great competition," said Director and Head Coach of Penn State Track and Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "I felt both teams progressed from just a short week ago and have already begun to fine tune a very competitive atmosphere. We won a lot of events and performed at a high level and will continue to prepare for an outstanding weekend at the Penn State National (on Jan. 30-31)."
All told, the Nittany Lions claimed a dozen event titles, setting several meet records on the way. Among the winners was senior Emma Schmelzer (Bloomington, Ill.), who swept the women's throwing events fro the second weekend in-a-row. Senior Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) is also on a winning streak in the long jump, taking her second title in as many weeks. Schmelzer posted a 20-pound weight victory with a toss of 54-7.50 (16.65), and won the shot put with a mark of 42-11.75 (13.10). Hunter bested the long jump field with a leap of 19-9 (6.02).
The Lion distance runners dominated the mile and 3,000-meters competitions, led by Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia), who clocked a personal-best and meet-record 4:08.99 to win the mile. The Lions were solid throughout the race, taking three of the top four spots, including John Mahoney (Richboro, Pa.) in second, and Lucas Zarzeczny (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in fourth. Freshman Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) led a strong showing by the Lions in the women's mile, finishing in a collegiate-PR 4:52.39. Junior Leah Rosenfeld (Ridgefield, Conn.) followed in second in 4:53.29.
In the longer distance, senior Dennis Pollow (Ransomville, N.Y.) took the men's 3K title with a personal-best 8:19.98, bettering the previous meet record by more than 10 second. Senior Meghan Noecker (Reading, Pa.) also notched a personal-record, winning the women's 3,000 in 9:55.06 - another meet record. Jessie Babcock (Irvine, Calif.) and Janelle Young (Lemoyne, Pa.) also posted outstanding performances, finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Caitlan Lane |
Caitlin Fairbairn (Coatesville, Pa.) led an impressive Penn State effort in the women's pole vault, clearing 12-5.50 for second place. Freshman Jocelyn Witmer (Lancaster, Pa.) finished third overall, posting a clearance of 12-1.50 (3.70). Also managing a second-place finish was senior John Vellenoweth (Wheeling, W.Va.), who topped out at 15-9 (4.80) to take silver-medal honors in the men's vault.
Sophomores Blake Eaton (Allegeny, N.Y.) and Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) put up a one-two finish in the men's shot put, led by Eaton's 55-2 (16.81).
In the sprints, Mike Cadau (Mahanoy City, Pa.) finished second in the 500-meters in 1:02.81, while Greaves finished just a fraction of a second shy of a second event title, taking second in the 60-meters in 7.47.
The Nittany Lions will take a break next weekend, before hosting the high-powered Penn State National on January 30-31.