One race and 90 minutes removed from setting the Penn State record in the 60-meter dash, Shavon Greaves pushed across the finish line one more time to break the record again.
Day two of the Penn State National concluded Saturday with several records falling -- including two by Greaves -- and three distance runners qualifying for the NCAA national indoor track championship.
"We just experienced a two-day competition that was probably one of the best meets in our sport in the country, year in and year out," coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said.
Greaves set the Penn State record in the women's 60-meter dash in consecutive races, with times of 7.25 seconds and 7.24 seconds, respectively.
But in addition, Greaves placed first overall in the women's 200-meter dash. She also set a meet record with a time of 23.16 seconds.
Penn State alumna Shana Cox, running unattached, not only shattered her own Penn State record 500-meter time, but also set a new American record with a time of one minute, 8.70 seconds, .01 seconds faster than the previous American record holder.
While impressive, the race is frequently overshadowed by the 400- and 800-meter dashes, because the 500-meter race is not run at the NCAAs or in the Olympics.
Alford-Sullivan said with the extreme competition at the meet, including professional runners and powerhouse schools such as Georgetown, Tennessee, St. Augustine and Miami (Fla.), runners drove each other to run faster than they otherwise would have in a typical collegiate track and field meet.
"It's not every day that you see the competition bring out what they did," Alford-Sullivan said.
"It was really an atmosphere of being on a great track, but it was also being in great competition. When you put everyone in one place, it's going to run, and records are going to fall."
In their first long distance race of the season, senior Bridget Franek, sophomore Caitlin Lane and senior Cheryl Spring each provisionally qualified for the NCAAs in the women's 3,000-meter race.
Although Franek did not yet qualify as an automatic bid for the NCAAs, Alford-Sullivan looked at the race as a victory.
"Bridget ran probably the second best time of her career, so I'm not disappointed," Alford-Sullivan said.
"She ran a great race, and this was her first race of the year. We also had three qualify provisionally in that race. ... Those guys ran out of their minds in that race, and it was tremendous."
In addition to contributing to another NCAA qualifying 4x400 victory, senior runner Fawn Dorr placed first overall in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.10 seconds.
Dorr said she's satisfied with the result but is unsure of whether an automatic bid to the NCAAs is possible.
"It's tough to say. An automatic in the 400, not too many people can do," Dorr said.
"I'd have to drop about a second in order to do that. Can I do that? Yes. If my race goes right and I execute properly.
"I definitely think I can run a 52. But if I do that, I break Shana Cox's record. That's not easy to do."
