Nittany Lions Set School Record in Distance Medley

Relay caps outstanding first day of action at Penn State National

 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.: January 27, 2012 – The foursome of Caitlin Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.), Ijeoma Iheoma (Holland, Pa.), Bekka Simko (Mentor, Ohio), and Kara Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.) combined to set a new school record in the distance medley relay, highlighting a list of outstanding efforts by the Nittany Lions, Friday at the Penn State National at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.  Also running well was the men’s distance medley team of Wade Endress (Altoona, Pa.), Aaron Nadolsky (Altoona, Pa.), Connor Manley (Jamison, Pa.), and Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.), who took home an event victory with a meet-record performance.

 

The Nittany Lion women’s quartet, thanks to outstanding splits across the board, posted a time of 11:06.15 to better the 11:14.78 set by Megan Hutchinson, Shana Cox, Briene Simmons, and Bridget Franek, in 2007.  Penn State led off with Lane, who clocked a split of 3:22 on the opening 1200 leg.  Iheoma took the stick from there, clocking a 53.5-second readout, turning the baton to Simko, who covered the 800 meters in 2:07.5.  Millhouse brought home the record, finishing off the 1600-meter leg in 4:41.1.  The time is currently ranked second in the NCAA, and stands second-to-only Georgetown, who won the Penn State National race in an NCAA-automatic qualifying 10:55.95.

 

The men were just as impressive in the event victory, with recently crowned collegiate record holder Robby Creese anchoring the effort with a 4:01-split.  The squad, which included three freshman and a redshirt-sophomore, led off with Endress in 2:57, followed by Nadolsky in 46.3, and Manley in 1:49.4.  The team now ranks number one in the NCAA in the event.

 

Also impressing on the track was junior Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas), who fought through three rounds of hurdling action, to finish third in the 60-meter hurdles with a lifetime-best 8.20.  Britton, the top collegiate in the field on Friday, now ranks fourth in the NCAA.

 

The Nittany Lions also saw some outstanding results in the throwing events, paced by a victory in the women’s 20-lb weight throw by Melissa Kurzdorfer (Lancaster, Ohio).  Kurzdorfer turned in a season-best 64-10.50 (19.77), which ranks third in the Penn State record books.  On the men’s side, Will Barr (Urbana, Ohio) tied for third overall in the men’s 35-lb weight with a PR toss of 63-9.50 (19.44).

 

Also standing out in the field events was pentathlete Brittney Howell (Wyncote, Pa.), who recorded a PR total of 3663 in the pentathlon to take second overall.  The mark stands fourth on the all-time Penn State performance list.  Anya Uzoh (Laurel, Md.) enjoyed a stellar start to the men’s heptathlon, finishing day one in first place with a 3035-point total.  Uzoh will have three events remaining in the multi-events on Saturday.

 

Action at the Penn State National continues with the men’s heptathlon hurdles at 9:30 a.m., while the unseeded running events will begin at 10:00 a.m.  The featured “Invitational” sections are slated for a 2:30-start time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jess Riden

Director of Operations

Track and Field/Cross Country

Penn State University

147 Bryce Jordan Center

University Park, PA 16802

Office: 814.863.2120

Cell: 814.883.6616

Fax: 814.863.8933

 

    

  

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