Olympic Bronze for PSU Track

I was erroneously pointed in the wrong direction when I queried the intertubes with the question "Do you receive a medal at the Olympics as a member of the Relay Pool but don't perform on the track?"  It turns out you do!  And that means Dominique Blake is a Bronze Medalist!  Congratulations are in order, as I'm sure she worked just as hard as every member of the Prelim and Final runners on the Jamaican 4 x 400 Relay squad.

PSU Olympic Results

Dominique Blake is still in Jamaica's pool for the 4 x 400 M Relay, but the other PSU-affiliated athletes are done with their individual competitions.

1. Kirsten Niewendam from Suriname (PSU Sophomore) was 8th in her heat of the 200 M with a 24.07.
2. Ryan Whiting was 9th in the Finals of the Shot Put with a 20.64.
3. Shana Cox of Great Britain qualified for the semi-final round of the 400M with a 52.01.  She finished 7th in the semi-finals with a 52.58. She remains in the Relay Pool.
4. Bridget Franek became the first PSU woman to qualify for an Olympic Final with a 9:29.86 in the opening round.  She placed 14th in the world with a 9:45.51 in the finals.

A More Refined Olympic/PSU Schedule!*

Times are East Coast USA times.

8/3 Friday  5:00:00 AM M Shot Put Qualification  Ryan Whiting (USA)

8/3 Friday  7:00:00 AM W 400 Metres Heats Shana Cox (Great Britain)

8/3 Friday  3:30:00 PM M Shot Put Final

8/4 Saturday  6:35:00 AM W 3000 Metres Steeplechase Heats Bridget Franek USA)

8/4 Saturday  3:05:00 PM W 400 Metres Semi-Final

8/5 Sunday  4:10:00 PM W 400 Metres Final

8/6 Monday  2:20:00 PM W 200 Metres Heats Kirsten Niewendam (Suriname)

8/6 Monday  4:05:00 PM W 3000 Metres Steeplechase Final

8/7 Tuesday  3:25:00 PM W 200 Metres Semi-Final

8/8 Wednesday  4:00:00 PM W 200 Metres Final

8/10 Friday  2:10:00 PM W 4x400 Metres Relay Heats Dominique Blake (Jamaica), Shana Cox (Great Britain)

8/11 Saturday  3:25:00 PM W 4x400 Metres Relay Final

*A service of the voluminous fact-checkers at your favorite Track and Field/Physics Blog!

Schedule of PSU Olympian's First Appearance at the Games

Olympic Games Friday, August 3   Prelims and Finals for Ryan Whiting in the Shot Put. Prelims in the 200M for Kirsten Niewendam (Suriname) in the 200 M.  Prelims in the 400 M for Shana Cox, (Great Britain).
Qualifying rounds from Day 1 of Track & Field.
10:00am - 10:30am on NBC

More qualifying rounds from Day 1 of Track & Field.
11:30am - 12:00pm on NBC

A gold medal is on the line in the women's 10,000m final.
4:30pm - 5:00pm on NBC

Olympic Games Saturday, August 4  Prelims for Bridget Franek in the 3000 M SC.
Qualifying-round action in Track & Field includes the men's 100m and 400m and women's pole vault.
11:15am - 11:45am on NBC

More qualifying-round action in Track & Field.
1:30pm - 2:00pm on NBC

Olympic Games Tuesday, August 7   Heats for 4 x 400 M Relay for  Dominique Blake (Jamaica) and Shana Cox (Great Britain)
Qualifying round in Track & Field, including the men's 110m hurdles and 200m, and the women's 5000m.
10:00am - 10:30am on NBC

More qualifying round in Track & Field, including the men's 110m hurdles and 200m, and the women's 5000m.
11:45am - 12:00pm on NBC

More qualifying rounds in Track & Field, including the men's 110m hurdles and 200m, and the women's 5000m.
12:30pm - 1:00pm on NBC

World Indoor and NCAA Indoor Championships Begin

Long Island's and Penn State's Shana Cox, running for Great Britain now placed first in her preliminary heat of the 400 M in Istanbul, Turkey in 53.24. Addendum: Shana won her semi-final to make the finals!

Dominique Blake of Jamaica, via Happy Valley, also moved on in the 400 with a second place 53.39.Addendum:  Her 53.00 semi-final 3rd place wasn't enough to make the finals.

Ryan Whiting, ASU's favorite son and Honorary PSU Track Alum, also advanced in the Shot Put with a heave of 20.37 M (66 feet 9 inches)  Addendum:  World Champion!!!

Tasmania's first ever sub-4 miler and Penn State Track Alumni Apparel Facilitator Ryan Foster failed to advance in the 1500 M opening round in 3:46.26.

NCAA starts tonight in Boise, Idaho.  Yeah, Idaho, the Indoor Track go-to location.

Nittany Lions in the "Post-Season"

NCAA Indoor Championships, Boise, Idaho.

1. Robbie Creese -  Mile
2. Casimir Loxsom - 800 M
3. Mens 4 x 400 M  (Aaron Nodolsky, Brannon Bennett-Green, Casimir Loxsom, Brady Gehret)*
4. Evonne Britton - 60 M Hurdles

IAAF World Indoor Championships, Istanbul, Turkey.

1. Ryan Whiting** - Shot Put
2. Ryan Foster (Australia) - 1500 M
3. Dominique Blake (Jamaica)  - 400 M (?)
4. Aleesha Barber (Trinidad-Tobago) - 60 M Hurdles
5. Shana Cox (Great Britain) - 400 M

* The four who set the qualifying mark.
** Honorary PSU Track Alumni Golfer and Volunteer Assistant Coach

Here's Joe Kovacs at the USATF Indoor Championships with a PR and almost qualifying for IAAF.