Eugene, Ore. — Senior Tyler McCandless (Bath, Pa.) scored a 12th-place finish in the 10,000-meter run to earn All-America honors, Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field. The Nittany Lions enjoyed an outstanding afternoon overall, with junior Shavon Greaves (Lakewood, N.J.), senior Bridget Franek (Hiram, Ohio), and senior Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) earning spots in the finals in their respective events, while the women’s 4×400-meter relay also captured a lane in the NCAA final.
McCandless gave an outstanding effort, despite cold and rainy conditions over the grueling 10,000-meter race, claiming 12th-place overall, thanks to a finishing time of 29:22.67. The senior earns his first All-America finish in his first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Overall, the senior is the seventh All-American at 10,000-meters (formerly the six-mile run) and the first since Mark Wimmer finished ninth in 1994.
Greaves, who placed third in the 200 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, claimed a second place finish in her semi-final section, clocking 23.25, thanks to a last second surge down the homestretch to best Texas A&M’s Dominique Duncan, who finished third in 23.38. Greaves’ effort was the fourth fastest in qualifying, behind Porscha Lucas and Jeneba Tarmoh of Texas A&M, who clocked 22.49, and 23.04, respectively.
Barber kept things rolling for the Nittany Lions in the sprints, earning a second-place finish in her heat to capture an automatic berth into Saturday’s final. Barber, who owns a career-best fourth-place finish in the event at the NCAA meet, clocked 13.13 to place second behind Virginia Tech’s Queen Harrison, who ran the day’s fastest mark at 12.68.
Franek soloed a heat victory in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase semi-finals, finishing in 10:02.48. Franek distanced herself from the pack from the gun, cruising to an comfortable section victory with the next fastest finisher breaking the tape in 10:07.15. Franek’s effort was the third fastest of the afternoon with Colorado duo Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp running 9:59.69, and 9:59.93, respectively, in the second of two semi-final sections.
Both Barber and Greaves would pull double duty on the afternoon, coming back to run the opening two legs on the women’s 4×400, which would also run to one of the two automatic-qualifying spots out of their semi-final race. Barber would run solid on the opener, with Greaves putting the Lions at the front of the pack with two legs in the books. Freshman Doris Anyanwu (Beltsville, Md.) held her own in a two-team race with the University of Arkansas up front, before senior Fawn Dorr (Akron, N.Y.) ran step for step with Razorback anchor Regina George, with Arkansas edging the Lions 3:33.97 to 3:34.10. The effort from the Nittany Lion foursome was the fifth best of the day. Texas A&M ran the fastest time of round at 3:32.34, followed by Oregon at 3:33.51.
Action continues Friday with Nittany Lions Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.), Jocelyn Witmer (Lancaster, Pa.), and Dorr set to compete in final rounds. Log on to www.GoPSUsports.com for updates and interviews throughout the competition.