Cox earns top honors at meet in Knoxville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite the cancellation of several events on the last day of Sea Ray Relays, Penn State's Shana Cox managed to make her mark in Knoxville, as the Nittany Lion junior was the recipient of the Tony Wilson Award, given to the top women's track athlete of the meet.
Cox, last week's Big Ten Athlete of the Week, won the 400-meters with a season-best time of 51.81 seconds, the second-fastest time in the NCAA and fifth-best time in the world at the time it was run. Cox held off a hard-charging Mary Wineberg, last year's Sea Ray winner, and former NCAA champ and Olympic gold medalist Dee Dee Trotter to clock the fastest time at Sea Ray since Jearl Miles-Clark went 51.80 in 2001.
The junior also ran legs on a pair of relays, finishing third in the 4x200-meters in 1:35.98, and seventh in the 4x100-meters in 46.27.
The six-time All-American is the first Nittany Lion, male or female, to capture the award, which was named for Tony Wilson, a former Tennessee athlete and SEC high jump champion who died of a brain hemorrhage in 1973.
Swimmer, gymnast receive McCoy Award
Men's swimmer Daniel Kaiserian and women's gymnast Stephanie Sullivan have been selected the recipients of Penn State's 2007 Ernest B. McCoy Memorial Award.
Kaiserian and Sullivan were recognized during the University's annual Student Awards Ceremony on Sunday. In addition, standout linebacker Paul Posluszny was presented the Eric A. Walker Award.
The McCoy Award is presented annually to one senior male and one senior female student-athlete who have combined successful athletic participation with academic excellence.
A senior majoring in mechanical engineering, Kaiserian qualified for three events at the 2007 NCAA Championships. He swam a 44.77 in the 100 free and was a member of Penn State's 200 free and 200 medley relay teams.
A senior majoring in life science, Sullivan earned second team All-Big Ten honors this season and finished eighth on beam at the 2007 Big Ten Championships, helping the Nittany Lions to a second place finish. At last Saturday's NCAA Regional in Denver, Sullivan further demonstrated her skills and versatility by competing on the uneven bars for the first time this season and scoring a 9.750.
