After an afternoon of steady rain and wind, Mt. Nittany was completely enveloped in a shroud of fog. In the Nittany Lion Track below the mountain, however, no cloud of doubt could be found surrounding the results of the Jim Thorpe Invitational.
The Penn State women's track and field team dominated the meet, fighting more against Mother Nature than the rest of the competition.
The Nittany Lions clearly established themselves as top dog, as they stormed through the weather, not to mention sub-par performances, to win the majority of the events against weaker non-conference opponents Lehigh, Colombia, Bucknell and St. Francis (Pa.).
"The competition that was there was not the caliber that is too threatening to us," Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "We expected to sweep things, and we did."
As expected, Penn State dominated the sprints with sophomore Kamilah Salaam winning the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.22 seconds and the 100 hurdles in 14.76.
Also pacing the Lions' sprinters, Sara Shoaff won the 200 easily, clocking in at 24.33 seconds.
"She's looking very good. She's handling herself very well," Alford-Sullivan said. "I was very impressed with her performance."
The domination continued into the throwing events with junior Diana Bruch nailing an NCAA regional qualifying mark of 142 feet 2 inches in the javelin. Fellow junior Jennifer Leatherman continued to perform well winning the shot put with a toss of 46 feet 10 inches and the hammer throw with a throw of 151 feet 4 inches. Junior Christen Clemson finished the sweep of the throws by winning the discus.
The inclement weather forced the long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault competitions to be held indoors to prevent weather-related injuries.
Inside Multi-Sports, a virtual Sahara compared to the swamp outside, Penn State continued its winning ways. Junior Megan Burke won the long jump with a mark of 5 feet 5 inches; senior Heather Yedinak and sophomore Amber Strouse were second and third, respectively.
The win was a long time coming for Burke, Alford-Sullivan said, adding that Burke has been struggling recently.
"We've been working hard with her to get her back on her game," she said.
Bucknell coach Kevin Donner was not surprised that Penn State emerged as the clear powerhouse at the meet.
"Penn State's ... a fully funded large school, and they're competing against some smaller, lesser-funded schools," Donner said.
However, the meet was not without its flaws for the blue and white.
In the 4x100 relay, Penn State managed to hold on to win, even after a botched handoff between Salaam and Shoaff. But after the event, not even Alford-Sullivan knew if the results were official because the handoff occurred outside the handoff zone.
"We're still getting used to things and working out the kinks," Alford-Sullivan said. "Shoaff took off a little bit too quick. It's just a timing thing."
Penn State's survival in the inclement weather bodes well for the rest of the season, during which unfavorable weather could be part of a championship meet.
"Against the elements it's always hard to keep your focus," Alford-Sullivan said. "These guys went out there and did what we asked them: to battle and compete."
Hunter hits provisional mark
Penn State freshman heptathlete Gayle Hunter earned an NCAA provisional qualifying mark while competing at the Ole Miss Invitational at the University of Mississippi this weekend. She finished third in the event with an overall score of 5,206 points. That point total currently ranks her sixth among the nation's heptathletes.
However, Hunter was not satisfied with her results, saying the tendonitis in her left knee flared up, making competition much more difficult.
"If my knee would stay decent the whole competition, I'd have no problem qualifying [automatically]," Hunter said.
She said that her knee is fine when she is active; when she rests, it becomes stiff, hurting her ability to hit her marks in the high and long jumps.
Although she had an off weekend, Hunter still believes she can hit the automatic mark later this season, saying minor details just need to be tweaked.
"It's like little things that are very simple for me to improve," Hunter said.
