Four Penn State women head to NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship

University Park, Pa. -- The Penn State women's track and field team will be represented by four athletes in six events, including two freshmen, this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 11-12 at the Randal Tyson Track in Fayetteville, Ark.

Senior Kate Johnston (Warwick, R.I.), junior Jennifer Leatherman (Timbo, Ark.) and freshmen Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.) and Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) will compete in the NCAA field for the Nittany Lions. Three Nittany Lions will bring qualify marks ranked in the top eight into the Championships. The top eight finishers at the NCAA meet earn All-America honors.

Penn State posted a best-ever 13th place team finish with four qualifiers at last year's NCAA Championships. The Nittany Lions brought home four All-American honors including a pair from sprinter Connie Moore and one each from triple jumper Chi-Chi Aduba and shot putter Ja'Nai O'Connor.

Hunter brings the highest ranked mark into the Championship for Penn State as she stands seventh in the pentathlon competition with a high score of 4, 059 on the year. That mark bested a 20 year old Penn State record this season.

Cox brings in the eighth best mark in the 400 meters with a time of 52.75. That mark bettered a 23 year old Penn State record. Cox ran a Big Ten meet record and event winning time in the finals of the Big Ten Championships but was later disqualified because an official ruled she crossed her lane line. Cox will also bring the 10th best time of 23.48 into the 200-meter competiton. The 16 person field in the NCAA 200 meters is separated by just five tenths of second.

Leatherman, who claimed Big Ten titles in both the 20-pound weight throw and the shot put in her first year with the Nittany Lions, brings the eighth best mark of 69-11 1/2 in the weight throw competition. That mark also established a Penn State record this season. The Naval Academy transfer will also bring the 16th best mark of 52-0 3/4 into the shot put competition as she returns to compete in her home state of Arkansas.

Johnston, making her second NCAA appearance, qualified with the 16th best mark of 66-3 in the weight throw competition.