Record-setting day for Bosler at Big Tens

The Penn State women's indoor track and field team didn't improve on last year's fourth-place Big Ten standing.

Ask Teri Jordan what the Lady Lions did improve on and her answer might lead one to believe they finished first.

"There was a lot of effort there," the Lady Lion coach said. "I couldn't ask for anymore than that."

The Lady Lions did improve on last year's team points, raising the total from 49 to 63, but dropped to fifth place overall at the Big Ten championships held in Illinois during the weekend.

Most notably, Lady Lion junior Erica Bosler broke an 18-year-old school record in the 600-meter run and finished second with a time of 1 minute, 30.06 seconds. The old record of 1:31.7 was set by former Lady Lion Lea Ventura.

Bosler's time in the 600-meter run was only a one-tenth of a second behind Hillary Bruening of Indiana.

"Erica just had a terrific weekend," Jordan said. "She's been having a tremendous year."

But Bosler's services didn't stop with the 600-meter run. She competed on the Lady Lions' distance medley relay and 4x400-meter relay teams, which finished second and sixth, respectively.

"Erica was a key factor in the distance medley relay team that finished second," Jordan said, "and we were way out of it in the 4x400, but Erica kept us in it."

As for the 3,000-meter run, seniors Erin St. John and Kim McGreevy finished third and fourth, respectively. In the mile run it was McGreevy in third and St. John in fourth. Wisconsin standouts Kathy Butler and Sara Fredrickson owned the mile. Butler finished first and Fredrickson was second.

"We have to work on getting a few more people in the finals," St. John said, "but I think the team did well as a whole. We gave everything we had."

Other standout performances came in the distance events. Senior Joetta Dweh finished fourth in the 800-meter run, and senior Tresa Hohnka ran fourth in the 5,000-meter run. Sophomore Donna Fidler finished sixth in the 5,000-meter run.

"We did well, but we can do better," Jordan said. "The sprinters and jumpers know they can contribute, and I think the middle-distance runners made a strong point this year. Fifth place is good, but only three points kept us out of fourth."

And with every passing year Jordan stresses the importance of the indoor meets and their repercussions for the outdoor season.

"We're always building for the outdoor season," Jordan said. "The freshmen got a lot of experience.

"The few points separating fourth place and fifth place as well as third and fourth proves it was a great battle," she added. "The Big Ten will always be competitive."