Link - http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/080212aaa.html

 

Whiting and Cox Open Olympic Track and Field on Friday

Volunteer Assistant Whiting goes in as a United States medal hope in men’s shot put

 

LONDON – The track and field portion of the London Olympic slate is set to begin on Friday, with Nittany Lion representatives Shana Cox (Great Britain), and Ryan Whiting (United States) both scheduled to compete on the sport’s opening day.  Whiting – the reigning IAAF World Indoor Champion in the men’s shot put – will be the first to have a chance at the medal stand, as shot put trials and finals are scheduled for Friday.

 

Another trio of Nittany Lions will wait their turn to get on the track, with 2010 graduate Bridget Franek (United States), opening up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Saturday.  Also waiting in the wings is rising junior Kirsten Nieuwendam (Parimaribo, Suriname), who will be competing in the 200-meters on Monday.  Dominique Blake is also in line to make an Olympic appearance as a member of Jamaica’s 4x400-meter relay pool.  Heats of the women’s 4x400, which Cox is also slated to compete in for Great Britain, are scheduled for Friday, August 10.

 

Whiting – a current volunteer assistant for the Nittany Lion men’s and women’s squads – will get things going, competing in the shot put preliminaries, slated for 5:00 a.m., EDT, on Friday morning.  Should things go well, Whiting will move on to the event final, which is slated for 3:30 p.m., EDT, on Friday afternoon.  Whiting, who will be making his first Olympic appearance, is no stranger to international success, having represented the United States at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in 2011, and making the team for the 2012 World Indoor Championships, where he captured top honors.  Whiting – an Arizona State graduate and six-time NCAA Champion as a Sun Devil – is currently tied with U.S. teammate Reese Hoffa with the second-best mark in the world at 72-2.25 (22.00).  American teammate Christian Cantwell leads the world rankings with a toss of 73-2.50 (22.31).

 

Cox will take the track for the first time on Friday, taking on the preliminary round of the 400 meters at 7:00 a.m., EDT.  The 2008 NCAA Champion in the event, Cox owns a seasonal-best of 51.84.  She also fared well at the World Indoor Championships, running on Great Britain’s winning 4x400.

 

Franek, the silver medalist at the US Olympic Trials, will also be making her first Olympic trip, following appearances at the IAAF World Championships in 2009 and 2011.  Franek, who won the NCAA steeple title as a senior in 2010, is slated to go in the preliminaries at 6:35 a.m., EDT

 

Full coverage of the Olympic Games are available live at NBCOlympics.com.

 

For more on Nittany Lion track and field, log on to www.GoPSUsports.com.

 

 

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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