March 13, 2010
After the first day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, No. 8 Penn State leads all Big Ten teams in fifth place with 11 team points. Defending champ and No. 5 Tennessee is in second place with 16 points, while No. 17 Arizona (15 ½ points) and No. 1 Oregon sit in the third- and fourth-place positions, respectively.
Penn State’s Shavon Greaves paced the Nittany Lions’ efforts with a third-place finish in the 200-meters, while teammate Bridget Franek added a fourth-place showing in the 5,000-meters.
Greaves clocked a swift 23.11 in the 200 prelims - the fastest mark of the round - to earn a spot in the two-section final. The junior hold her own in the final, finishing in 23.17 to take third overall and earn the fourth All-America honor of her already decorated career. Greaves matches the Nittany Lions' highest-ever finish in the event indoors, tying Connie Moore's bronze-medal effort in 2004. The Lakewood, N.J., natvie would also compete in the 60-meter dash, placing 11th in qualifying with a finishing time of 7.34.
In the 5,000-meter competition, Franek used a strong finishing kick to break the tape in 15:58.02 to place fourth overall, matching her effort from last year. The All-America standing was the eighth of Franek's career, and her third top-eight effort in the indoor 5K.
Following closely behind Franek in the 5,000-meter run was Minnesota senior Megan Duwell, who placed sixth on the strength of a 15:59.23 effort. The Gophers enter the final day of competition in 27th place in the overall team standings with three points.
Indiana turned in a pair of top-10 finishes in field competition as junior Faith Sherrill and senior Ashley Rhoades notched seventh-place honors in the weight throw and the high jump, respectively. Sherrill tossed a 20.00 meters (65-7.5) to better the eighth-place finisher by 5.5 in the weight throw. Meanwhile, Rhoades cleared 1.81 meters (5-11.75) to claim her first career All-America certificate.
In the Distance Medley Relay, Michigan (11:19.33) and Indiana (11:25.75) placed 10th and 12th respectively to wrap up the opening day of action.
NCAA competition will resume at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday and wrap up with the mile relay later in the afternoon.
Full Recap
Complete Results Day One
Women’s Team Rankings | Six Events Scored
1) Auburn, 18.0
2) Tennessee, 16.0
3) Arizona, 15.5
4) Oregon, 13.0
5) Penn State, 11.0
6) Iowa State, 10.0
6) UTEP, 10.0
6) Louisville, 10.0
9) West Virginia, 9.0
10) Nebraska, 8.5
27) Minnesota, 3.0
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