Men’s Athletes to Watch Kyle Dawson Fifth-year senior Kyle Dawson will be back for his final goaround with the Nittany Lions in 2011-12. Dawson was outstanding on the cross country course in 2010, leading the Nittany Lions to the NCAA Championships for the second time in the last three years. As an individual, Dawson was sensational, placing eighth at the Big Ten Championships, earning second team all-conference status, and turning in a secondplace and all-region finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. On the track, Dawson was the Nittany Lions’ top man at 10,000-meters in 2011, while also earning the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the outdoor season.
Owen Dawson A member Nittany Lions’ highly-touted middle distance contingent, Owen Dawson proved to be a force over any distance in 2010-11 , running as a member of Penn State’s NCAA-qualifying cross country squad last fall. Dawson bumped up to the mile run indoors, clocking a personal-best 4:04.26 for the event, to go along with his PR 1:47.77 for the 800-meters from 2010. - which stands as the third-fastest half mile effort in school history. An NCAA All-American in theindoor 800 in 2010, Dawson redshirted the 2011 outdoor campaign, and will be back with fall with remaining eligbilitiy in cross country and outdoor track and field.
Brady Gehret Coming off one of the more impressive freshman campaigns in recent history, Brady Gehret will be back in 2011-12, and ready to make a splash on the national sprints scene. Gehret wasted no time in etching his name in the record books, setting the indoor school record in the 400-meters at 46.22, on his way to a third-place and All-America finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Gehret also established himself as a go-to leg on the Nittany Lion relays, as the Altoona, Pa., native anchored schoolrecord 4x400-meter relays during both the indoor (3:07.27) and outdoor seasons (3:07.19) as a rookie. The rising sophomore, who owns a PR 20.93 in the open 200-meters, also ran one the 200 legs on the Nittany Lions’ winning sprint-medley relay at Penn Relays, which clocked a school-record 3:17.10.
Hanif Johnson Senior Hanif Johnson also proved to be one-to-watch in the horizontal jumps in 2010-11, posting bronze-medal efforts at both Big Ten Championship competitions, and qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump. The Harrisburg, Pa., native would post a string of impressive victories during the outdoor season, winning the triple jump at the Florida Relays, as well as the “Eastern” section at Penn Relays before earning Second Team All-America honors via a 15thplace standing at the NCAA meet. Johnson led the Nittany Lions on the runway during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, posting personal triple jump bests of 51-5.50 (15.68) indoors and 51-8.50 (15.76) outside, which stands as the fifth-best leap in the Nittany Lion record books.
Joe Kovacs Senior Joe Kovacs - the NCAA bronze medalist in the shot put as a junior - will cap his sensational Nittany Lion career in 201112, with one outdoor season in the Blue and White remaining. Kovacs enjoyed outstanding success in 2011, capturing the Big Ten indoor crown in the shot put, before nabbing runner-up honors in the event at the outdoor conference meet. As a junior, Kovacs earned his second-career All-America certificate, claiming bronze-medal honors in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the indoor season, Kovacs recorded a PR toss of 65-1.25 (18.84) in the shot, which stood as the fourth-best mark in the country for the 2011 season. Kovacs recorded personal bests across the board during the outdoor season, posting efforts of 62-10 (19.15) in the shot put, 184-0 (56.08), and 201-9 (61.50) - all of which rank in the top
five performances in Penn State history. He qualified for the NCAA First Round in all three events.
Casimir Loxsom One the top middle distance athletes in the country, rising junior Casimir Loxsom blitzed to a sizzling school-record 1:45.31 to finish fourth in the 800-meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The then-sophomore, who also garnerd All-America status as a member of the Nittany Lions’s fifth-place 4x400meter relay during the indoor season, would continue to hold his own at the national and international levels throughout the summer, placing sixth in the 800 at the USATF Outdoor Championships, and moving on to represent the U.S. at the World University Games. Loxsom improved on his own school record during the postseason, clocking 1:45.28 to finish second in an elite field at the Harry Jerome Classic in Vancouver. During the collegiate season, Loxsom nabbed his second-straight Big Ten outdoor title in the 800. Loxsom, who ran the 400 leg on the Lions’ winning sprint medley relay at Penn Relays, also starred in the 4x800-meter relay at Penn, anchoring the Nittany Lions to an impressive 7:12.90 - the seventh-fastest mark in collegiate history. The New Haven, Conn., native laid claim to five school records over the course of 2011, including the 500meters (1:01.28) and 4x400 (3:07.27) indoors, and the 800 (1:45.28), 4x400 (3:07.19), and sprint medley (3:17.10) outdoors.
Senior KYLE DAWSON
Doug Moppert Senior Doug Moppert joined the Nittany Lion roster last winter, after two outstanding campaigns at the University of Texas. Moppert stepped right into the Penn State lineup as a junior, placing sixth in the long jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, and improving to a third-place finish in the event at the outdoor conference meet. An NCAA First Round qualifier during the outdoor season, Moppert recorded several impressive victories last year, winning the “Eastern” long jump at Penn Relays, and taking individual titles at the Nittany Lion Challenge and Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup during the indoor season.
Aaron Nadolsky Redshirt-sophomore Aaron Nadolsky established himself as one of the Nittany Lions’ most reliable relay legs in 2011, leading off Penn State’s fifth-place and All-America 4x400-meter relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Nadolsky would assist on a trio of school records last year, as a member of the Nittany Lions’ record-setting 4x400s during the indoor (3:07.27) and outdoor (3:07.19) seasons. The then-freshman also covered one of the 200-meter legs on the Nittany Lions’ winning and school-record setting sprint medley relay (3:17.10) at the prestigious Penn Relays. Individually, Nadolsky clocked PRs of 47.71 for the 400-meters indoors, and 21.61 for the 200-meters outside.
Sophomore AARON NADOLSKY
Sean Reilly Rising junior Sean Reilly topped out at 7-0.25 (2.14) during the outdoor season, and posted a pair of Big Ten scoring performances to complete an outstanding sophomore campaign. Reilly garnered bronze-medal honors at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, and was also an NCAA First Round qualifier last spring. Indoors, the then-sophomore topped out at 6-10.25 (2.09) for the season, and posted a sixth-place effort at the conference meet.
Anya Uzoh Junior Anya Uzoh has continued to show exciting promise in multi-events over his career with the Nittany Lions, posting a seventh-place finish in the heptathlon at the 2011 indoor conference meet after earning top-eight finishes in the multi at both the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships as a sophomore in 2010. Outdoors, Uzoh eclipsed the 7000-point barrier for the first time in his career with a PR score of 7045, which was good for second at Penn Relays. His score is also the 10th best in PSU history.
MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY
Junior/Senior HANIF JOHNON www.GoPSUsports.com
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