Aleesha Barber upset a former NCAA champion and Shana Cox added three more conference titles to her illustrious career as the Penn State women's track and field team won its first outdoor Big Ten championship in school history Saturday at the University of Illinois.
Penn State finished with 151 team points, well ahead of second-place Michigan with 118.
The last and only other Penn State track and field conference championship came in 2004, when the indoor team won.
Barber beat Michigan's Tiffani Ofili, the defending NCAA champion, in the 100-meter hurdles. The junior finished in 12.83 seconds, the second-fastest time in the country this year and nine-hundreths of a second better than Ofili. Barber also won silver medals in the 100-meter dash, the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter relay team.
Cox capped her Big Ten track and field career in dramatic fashion by winning the 200- and 400-meter dashes and anchoring the 1,600-meter relay team.
She won 15 conference championships in her collegiate career and set numerous records. Her latest effort of 52.00 in the 400-meter dash set a facility record at the University of Illinois, and it stands as the fourth-fastest time in the country this year.
