Jan. 28, 2010

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Putting on an event that has - year in and year out - produced some of the top performances around the country during the indoor season, the Nittany Lion track and field program is set to host the always-exciting Penn State National, set for this Friday and Saturday, January 29-30, at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Among the 40-plus collegiate teams that will be represented are the No. 6 Nittany Lions, along with No. 8 Tennessee, No. 18 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Connecticut, and No. 23 West Virginia on the women's side. The men's field is headlined by the 13th-ranked Virginia Tech men, along with as swiftly climbing programs from Tennessee, Penn State, Ohio State, Akron, Binghamton, Hampton, and Norfolk State. Action begins with the women's pentathlon, and men's heptathlon, beginning at 12 p.m., on Friday, while the Friday night portion of the competition will get underway at 5:45 p.m., and pick back up on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

The event is also set to feature many top post-collegiate athletes from all over the country, including 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist, and Harrisburg, Pa., native Hyleas Fountain, who now competes for Nike, in the women's pentathlon. Fountain, who completed her collegiate eligibility at Georgia in 2004, has enjoyed a sensational professional career, including U.S. Championship victories in the heptathlon in 2005, and 2007, and a U.S. Olympic Trials title in 2008. Boasting an extensive resume of national and international success, Fountain is the only American other than Jackie Joyner-Kersee to win a Olympic medal in the heptathlon.

Also scheduled to race is Penn State graduate and all-time Nittany Lion great Shana Cox - now running professionally for Adidas. Cox is set to enter the 500-meters, in which she owns a personal-best 1:09.19 - one of the top 25 fastest times ever run in the event worldwide, as well as the fifth-best performance by an American. Over the years, the Penn State National has seen numerous record-setting performances, including Jearl Miles-Clark's 1:08.71 for the 500 in 2004, which still stands as the American Record.

Sprints/Hurdles
The women's sprints are loaded from 60- to 400-meters and are set to feature a bevy of athletes with impressive resumes, many of whom have already made their way to the NCAA list in 2010. Looking to make a name for herself on her home track is junior Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.), who owns the third-fastest time in the NCAA in the 60 (7.30), and stands second in the 200 (23.22). Greaves' biggest competition in the 60 will be Murielle Ahoure - formerly of Miami - who will be competing unattached. Ahoure won an NCAA Indoor title in the 200 a year ago, and owns a personal best of 7.17 in the short dash. The 60 field is also set to include Connecticut's Trisha-Ann Hawthorne and Virginia Tech's Ogechi Nwaneri, who are both NCAA provisional qualifiers at the distance. The Nittany Lion junior will race to improve her already impressive 200-meter time, running against a stellar field in Hawthorne, Nwaneri, and former Pittsburgh standout Shantea Calhoun, as well as teammate Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.).

Dorr will be running with a target on her back in the 400-meters, as the senior enters the weekend with a PR performance of 53.32 - the fourth-fastest effort in the country this year. Dorr's primary competition will likely come from Virginia Tech's Queen Harrison - a 2008 U.S. Olympian in the 400-meter hurdles - and Miami's Ti'erra Brown. The Hokie senior currently owns the sixth-best performance of the 2010 campaign in the event at 53.64, while Brown was the NCAA runner-up in the quarter hurdles as a sophomore. Penn State freshman Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.), who has had a promising first two appearances in a Lion uniform, will also get the chance to show her stuff against tough competition, qualifying for the "Invitational" sections. Anyanwu is no stranger to the spotlight however, as the rookie ran on several winning relays at the prestigious Penn Relays while competing at Eleanor Roosevelt.

The women's 60-meter hurdle field is just as stacked, featuring a one-two punch from Virginia Tech in Harrison, and teammate Kristi Castlin. The Hokie duo boasts the top two performances in the NCAA this season at 8.04, and 8.11, respectively. Miami's Brown is in the mix with a seed time of 8.22 - the fifth-fastest effort in the country.

Along with Cox, the women's 500 is also set to include Tennessee's Phoebe Wright - last year's NCAA Indoor runner-up at 800-meters - who is this year's NCAA leader in the half mile at 2:04.00.

Middle Distance
Undoubtedly one of the most hotly contested events of the weekend will be the men's invitational 800-meters, featuring a quarter of Nittany Lions, headlined by junior Ryan Foster (Tasmania, Australia) - the newly crowned Australian national record holder at 1000-meters. Foster's 2:19.60, which is also a Penn State record, is the second-fastest ever run in the collegiate ranks, just off 2008 U.S. Olympian Christian Smith's 2:19.57 from 2006. Foster - the defending Big Ten Champion in the half mile - will be joined by classmates Owen Dawson (Coatesville, Pa.), and Lionel Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.), who both dipped under the NCAA provisional standard a year ago, and boast sub-1:50 personal bests. Also in among the Lion entrants is freshman Casimir Loxsom (New Haven, Conn.), who clocked a smoking 1:16.92 for 600-meters - which has been recognized as a "World Junior Best" - at the PSU Northeast Challenge.

Among the other favorites in the half mile is Liam Boylan-Pett - running unattached. Boylan-Pett clocked a sub-4:00 mile to win the event at the Penn State National last year, and was a member of Columbia's winning 4x800-meter relay at Penn Relays in 2007. Moises Joseph, who ran collegiately at Florida, is also entered, after running for Haiti at the 2009 IAAF World Championships, where he clocked 1:45.87 in the semi-finals.

One of the signature events at the Penn State National has been in the men's mile run, which has taken a sub-4:00 effort to win in each of the last three years. This go around is shaping up to be no different with Nittany Lion alum and 2008 winner Matt Lincoln of Phoenix Athletics (Canada), and 3:58-miler and NCAA All-American Andrew Bumbalough of Georgetown in the field. Also back for another shot at four minutes is former standout Sam Bair, who has come within an eyelash of the barrier on several occasions, and Binghamton's Erik van Ingen, who has also run right up on four minutes throughout his career.

One of the most highly charged mid-distance races on the women's side will be the 1000-meters, which includes Tennessee's Chanelle Price on the entry list. Price stands second nationally in the 800 in 2010, with a season-best 2:04.74. Price will likely be challenged by Georgetown standout and NCAA All-American Renee Tomlin.

Distance
Headlining the Penn State effort in the distances in senior and IAAF World Championship participant Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), who is scheduled to make her 2010 debut on Saturday, competing in the 3,000-meters. Franek clocked an NCAA automatic-qualifying and personal-best 9:10.04 at the Penn State National a year ago, and will look for a similar performance this weekend. Franek will be challenged by Georgetown's Emily Infield, who recently finish eighth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and is an NCAA provisional qualifier at 800-meters in 2010, as well Elizabeth Maloy - a former Hoya who will be competing unattached. The 3K field will also include Tennessee's Jackie Areson, who is on the NCAA list in the mile run at 4:43.85. Franek will also be joined by a host of Nittany Lions who are poised to run well, including classmate Cheryl Spring (The Woodlands, Texas) - an NCAA provisional qualifier at 5000-meters a year ago - and sophomores Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.) and Kara Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.), and freshmen Natalie Bower (Pleasant Unity, Pa.) and Brooklyne Ridder (Cincinnati, Ohio) - all members of the Lions' Big Ten Championship cross country team this fall.

NCAA cross country qualifier Vince McNally (Smoketown, Pa.) is set to compete in a solid field in the men's 5,000-meters, while standout freshman Danny Pawola (Naperville, Ill.) is slated to run in the invitational 3,000-meters.

Jumps
Senior Nittany Lion Brittany Maun (Greensburg, Pa.) will contend for top honors in the high jump. Maun has already bettered the provisional standard in the event this season, and stands 10th in the NCAA at 5-10.50 (1.79). Also competing will be UConn's Carin Knight - an NCAA All-American in the event. The men's high jump will feature unattached competitor Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.) - who will be competing in the Lion uniform during the outdoor season. Fritz took bronze medal honors in the high jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships a year ago. Facility record holder Joe Kindred, who cleared 7-5 (2.26) while competing for St. Augustine's at Ashenfelter Track in 2008, will also compete.

The men's vault will also be a hotly contested event, led by last year's event winner Brian Mondschein, who cleared a meet record 18-2.50 (5.54) in 2009. Also looking at high clearances are Virginia Tech's Yavgeniy Olhovsky and Akron Michael Uhle, who have both cleared 17-7.25 (5.37) this winter. Senior Brad Lawrence (Voorhees, N.J.) is slated to compete in the men's invitational vault, while a quartet of Penn State women - Caitlin Fairbairn (Coatesville, Pa.), Jocelyn Witmer (Lancaster, Pa.), Amanda Palenchar (Bradenville, Pa.) and Rachel NeMoyer (Orchard Park, N.Y.) will take on the women's invitational field.

2009 NCAA Outdoor qualifier Bianca Fung (North Babylon, N.Y.) is the Lions' top entrant in the women's horizontal jumps, along with sophomore Tanaya Lloyd (Philadelphia, Pa.), and Courtney Bell (Norristown, Pa.), who have both posted promising efforts in the triple jump throughout the early season. Miami's Deandra Doyley is the top seed in the long jump, coming into the meet with a season-best effort of 20-4.25 (6.20), which rates 12th nationally.

Redshirt freshman Hanif Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa.) will lead the Lions in the men's jump, after finishing fourth in the triple jump at Big Ten Outdoor as a freshman. Johnson has the third-best jump in the conference this season at 49-7.75 (15.13).

Throws
Penn State juniors Blake Eaton (Allegeny, N.Y.) and Joe Kovacs (Nazareth, Pa.) will be two of the top entrants in the men's shot put competition, as the duo stands eighth, and 13th, respectively on the national descending order list. The Nittany Lions will be tested by talented throws contingents from Akron, Buffalo, and Ohio State in the shot and the 35-pound weight throw. On the women's side, 2009 NCAA hammer champion Stevie Large - formerly of Akron, and now competing unattached - headlines the women's field in the 20-pound weight, along with Akron's Valerie Wert, who stands ninth in the event nationally. Buffalo's Kristy Woods is the top entrant in the women's shot put, entering the weekend with the ninth-best effort in the NCAA.