At practice this week, senior thrower Jennifer Leatherman was all smiles and laughter. As the Penn State women's track and field indoor season comes to a close, she has every reason to be pleased with her final season in a Penn State uniform.

Leatherman and sophomore sprinter Shana Cox will be representing the Nittany Lions in Fayetteville, Ark., with automatic bids to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 11-12.

For Leatherman, this has been an incredible senior season. She achieved her automatic bid to nationals in the weight throw in only the first weekend of competition this year. After setting the Big Ten record with her throw of 74-10.5 feet in the 20-pound weight throw at the Big Ten Championships last weekend, she was named the Big Ten Track and Field Athlete of the Year. She was the Big Ten champion in both the shot put and weight throw two years in a row.

To cap off this fairy-tale season, she will be traveling home to compete in the NCAAs. Hailing from Yellville, Ark., she will be returning to her home state to perform in front of her family and friends as she tries to win a national title.

"I really thrive in that kind of competition, that setting," Leatherman said.

"I'm just gonna be relaxed, have a good time, and go for it because I'm a senior this year, so I'm gonna try and
do it at home for all of my family."

For the Lions who have not automatically qualified for the NCAA meet, this weekend will be their last chance to post NCAA qualifying marks.

Senior Molly Landreth will be traveling to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships tomorrow in Massachusetts to improve upon her mark in the 3,000-meter run. She looks to post a time among the top 20 in the nation.

The 4x400-meter relay team is traveling to the Cyclone National Track and Field Qualifier tomorrow at Iowa State. Already posting a provisional mark for NCAAs, the team looks to get an automatic mark for the nationals. Cox, sophomore Dominique Blake, freshman Aleesha Barber, senior Sara Shoaff and sophomore Briene Simmons will be traveling as part of the relay team. Four of the five runners will compete in the race.

"That's where we got our school record last year [in the 4x400]," Penn State head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said.

"It's gonna take that kind of performance again."