Four athletes on the men's track and field team had one last opportunity to qualify for the national meet in Fayetville, Ark., this past weekend.
The Nittany Lions who competed in what are called 'last chance meets' were hurdler Ron Jules, shotputters Steve Myers and Dane Miller, and middle-distance runner Mark Miller.
Jules, Myers and Dane Miller traveled to the University of Boston to take part in the IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Running solid on the first day of competition, Jules finished yesterday in second place with a personal best time in the 55-meter hurdles. Even with posting the fastest time of his career, the Penn State junior still only sits around the top 25 nationally. The top 15 athletes in each event make it to the NCAA championships.
Jules' teammates who made the long trip with him to Boston failed to improve off their Big Ten championship performances. Myers finished No. 3 in the shot put, followed by Dane Miler in 8th place.
As the athletes were trying to lower the times and increase their distances on the East Coast, Penn State 800-meter runner Mark Miller was in South Bend, Ind., running on what has historically been a fast track for middle-distance running.
"That certainly was the point to go," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "He ran tactically a great race and was second in his heat, but just didn't run as fast as he needed to. Sometimes, that's just the nature of the race."
The facility didn't yield the desired qualifying time, as he ran to a 4th overall finish in the finals, clocking in at 1 minute, 50.47 seconds.
While none of the four improved enough to capitalize on the 'last chance meet,' the opportunity to compete at a high level one more time was a strong way to end a successful indoor campaign. Alford-Sullivan said that even though all four had a legitimate shot at qualifying, it is difficult to accomplish that during a '"last chance opportunity."
"You look at our national championship; it's a pretty elite field with about 15 people per event," Alford-Sullivan said. "We have the largest participated sport in the nation, so when you start looking at the numbers of people competing for those top echelons, it's less than 1 percent of our numbers make it to the national championship per event."
While Jules, Myers, Dane Miller and Mark Miller won't be a part of that less than one 1 percent to compete in the NCAA meet, they will use the experience of the 'last chance meet' to prepare for an outdoor season that is right around the corner.
"Our guys really got after it this weekend," Alford-Sullivan said. It's really good motivation for outdoor."
