The Penn State women's indoor track team got off to another fast start on Saturday at the U.S. Track Coaches Association Series meet. The Nittany Lions placed first in the 11-team competition with a score of 171 points. Cornell University followed as a distant second with 130.5 points.
The win did not come as much of a surprise to women's track and field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan who had expected her team to perform well in the meet.
"It was pretty much what we expected," Alford-Sullivan said. "We looked pretty good this week and I think that our depth will show up later in the season."
The meet was a great way for the women to get a feel for what's to come in the weeks ahead. This was especially true for a few of the team newcomers who posted some impressive times. Freshman distance runner Tracey Brauksieck had a banner first meet, winning the mile by a full 10 seconds with a time of 4:50:49.
"Tracey is going to be someone who just gets better and better," Alford-Sullivan said. "She's definitely our strongest freshman overall. We're pretty excited about her."
Veterans of the women's team laid down a strong foundation for the Lions by winning five events outright. Junior sprinter Connie Moore continued where she left off in last year's indoor season by winning the 60- and 200-meter dash.
"[Connie] is already ahead of where she was last year and is stepping up to a new level of competition," Alford-Sullivan said.
Moore secured a first place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.49 and in the 200 with a time of 23.98. Additionally, her 200-meter dash time earned her a provisional qualifying spot for the NCAA competition. Qualifying in the first meet was a great bonus for Moore who ran a full second faster than she had in last year's opener.
"I was very surprised ... for me to come back in the first meet and qualify," Moore said. "There was some good competition. I knew I was in a good run."
Along with Moore, junior Chi Chi Aduba qualified for the 60-meter dash finals while Lindsey McCullough and Danielle Bobo earned spots in the 60-meter hurdles. Bobo, however, did not compete in the finals because of a strained hamstring.
The Lions excelled in the field events, winning the long jump and pole vault, while placing two through four in the 20-pound weight throw. Defending Big Ten long jump champion Aduba grabbed a second win with a jump of 20-2 1/4. Aduba later continued her great day by finishing first in the triple jump with a mark of 42-6 1/4.
Junior Sara Dougherty took home first in the pole vault with a 12-5 1/2 mark. Throwers Deshaya Williams, Kate Johnston and Ja'nai O'Connor placed second through fourth, respectively in the weight throw. The field events gave the Lions enough points to separate themselves from the opposing competitors. The USTCA meet served as a good indicator of what is to come this season. The team hopes to carry some of its momentum into next weekend's meet at Kent State.
"I'm going to bring it to Kent State, focus, and get mentally prepared," Moore said.
Moore's top sprinting competition figures to be Kent State senior LaShannon Foster, who also won the long jump at this year's Michigan Quad meet.
"We're pretty confident right now," Alford-Sullivan said. "We've got a good training cycle going and we think that [Kent State] should be a good test for the season."
