March 10, 2008
Complete List of Award Winners
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With the NCAA Indoor Championships on the horizon the Nittany Lion track and field team received plenty of national recognition on Monday, as senior
Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.) was named Mid-Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year, and junior
Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) earned Field Athlete of the Year honors. Fourth-year assistant
Chris Johnson was named Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the Nittany Lion sprints, hurdles, and relays contingent, while
Fritz Spence, in his second year working with the Nittany Lion jumpers, was declared the region's top assistant on the men's side.
Following the Big Ten Championship meet two weeks ago, Cox now has a grand total of 12 Big Ten titles to her credit, adding wins in the 200-meters, 400-meters, and 4x400-meter relay in 2008. Cox was also named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championship following her sensational performance. The national leader in the 400-meters for much of the 2008 campaign, Cox is now ranked fourth nationally, while she and her 4x400 relay mates are also rated sixth amongst NCAA competition. Cox has also posted a provisional mark in the 200, and ran on Penn State's provisional qualifying distance medley relay. Throughout the season, Cox's accolades include a third-place finish in the invitational relay at the Tyson Invitational, and a first-place finish amongst collegiate teams the same weekend.
Individually, Cox was named Penn State Athlete of the Week on February 12, and February 19. Cox, a seven-time NCAA All-American, is now a three-time Mid-Atlantic Regional Athlete of the Year recipient, winning the award in 2006 and 2007, as well as this season
Hunter was once again one of Penn State's top point scorers at the conference meet, recording third-place finishes in the long jump, triple jump, and pentathlon. This season, Hunter posted an automatic-qualifying and Penn State record 4073 in the pentathlon, and was the first athlete in the country in 2008 to hit the auto standard back on Jan. 25. Hunter earned Big Ten and Penn State Athlete of the Week honors for her efforts. Thanks to her automatic performance, Hunter, an All-American in the heptathlon in 2007, will be making her fifth-career appearance at the NCAA Championships, going into the meet as the 10th-ranked pentathlete in the country. Hunter, also a provisional qualifier in the triple jump, also won Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year during the 2007 indoor season.
Johnson has guided his Nittany Lion troops to another outstanding season in 2008, including victories from Cox (200m, 400m), and the 4x400-meter relay at the Big Ten Championships. Five of Johnson's athletes are ranked among the nation's elite individually, with Cox, who led the country for much of the year, rated fourth in the 400, sophomore Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) ranked eighth in the 60-meter hurdles, Hunter, who is ranked tenth in the pentathlon, and Dominique Blake (Bronx, N.Y.), who has run the country's 11th-fastest time in the 400, Briene Simmons (Decatur, Ga.), who is a provisional qualifier 800-meters, and Johnson's 4x400, which has five provisional performances on the boards, rated 6th in the country. Johnson's athletes have also laid claim to five school records this season, including Barber's 8.19 all-time Penn State best in the 60 hurdles.
Johnson's crew made quite a dent at the Big Ten meet, as Johnson's athletes produced 10 scoring performances sprinting events, including all-conference efforts from Cox, Barber, and the 4x400. Barber finished second in the 60 hurdles to national-leader Tiffani Ofili of Michigan at the Big Ten meet, while
Shavon GReaves (Lakewood, N.J.), the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, took third in the 60-meters in 7.46 - just shy of provisional qualifying status. Johnson's athletes piled up the points in the 200 and 400 at the conference meet, earning 21 total points in the 400, and 16 points in the 200. Blake and Simmons were both named Big Ten Athlete of the Week during the 2007-08 campaign, while Cox earned USATF Athlete of the Week honors in December.
Spence has led the Nittany Lion men's horizontal jumpers to an outstanding season, including a Big Ten triple jump win from Clarence Smith (Coatesville, Pa.) and a bronze-medal finish from Ryan Taylor (Spanish Town, Jamaica) in the long jump.
Spence saw Smith to a 51-5 (15.67) personal best at the Big Ten meet, a mark that is currently rated 21st in the NCAA. Spence's troops raked in 15 total points in the conference triple jump with
Jay Pagana (Selinsgrove, Pa.) and Taylor taking sixth and seventh, respectively, along with Smith's victory. Taylor posted a career-best 24-02.50 (7.38m) to take third in the long jump. Both Smith and Taylor carried their Big Ten momentum this last weekend's Virginia Tech Last Chance, where the duo went one-two in the triple jump, posting personal-bests and provisional marks of 51-8.25 (15.75), and 51-7.25 (15.73), respectively.
The Lions will close out the indoor campaign this weekend, traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Championships. Action is scheduled to get underway on Friday, March 14.
