ROSEMONT, Ill. — After a weekend of multiple NCAA-leading marks, Tessa Barrett, Danae Rivers and Isaiah Harris have been named the Big Ten Women’s Co-Track Athletes of the Week and Big Ten Men’s Co-Track Athlete of the Week, respectively, as announced by the conference office Feb. 1.
Harris, a sophomore, continues to be one of the top middle-distance athletes in the nation, building upon his overwhelmingly successful freshman season that culminated in an Olympic Trials 800-meter final appearance.
Opening the 600-meter race this past weekend in a quick 48.5 400-meter split, Harris closed the gap, running stride-for-stride with Casimir Loxsom (Penn State '13), crossing the line in 1:14.96, just eight one-hundredths (0.08) of a second behind Loxsom — the new world-record holder in the event.
Harris is now the collegiate record holder in the 600-meters, surpassing the old mark of 1:15.79 set in 2013 by Loxsom during his senior season in the Blue and White.
Rivers made it three-for-three on school records, taking the women’s mile in a time of 4:34.87 to erase the mark set by Tori Gerlach just last season when she ran 4:37.83.
Rivers' mark stands as the No. 1 time in the NCAA this season; Rivers is also ranked No. 5 in the NCAA in the women’s 800-meters (2:04.04) and No. 6 in the 600-meters (1:29.06), both school-record times.
Tessa Barrett, not to be outdone, put on a show in the women’s 3K, as she paced the field to a school-record time of 9:07.22, breaking the record of 2012 Olympian Bridget Franek (Penn State ’10), who just happened to be in attendance for the feat.
Barrett erased the record of 9:10.04 set by Franek in 2009 and is currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in her event, leading the field by two one-hundredths over Michigan’s Erin Finn.
The Nittany Lions host the Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup Feb. 3-4 at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track starting at 5 p.m. Friday.