Penn State's Bridget Franek Is a National Champion. We Will Not Let This News Slip Into Obscurity.

When we last left Penn State's female distance-running superstar (pictured, right>>), Bridget Franek was busy leading the Lady Lions Track & Field squad to a Big Ten title. After this past weekend, Franek now has a nice shiny gold medal of the national champion variety. Just as she did last month at Big Ten championships, Franek won the 3,000-meter steeplechase. This time around though, Franek pulled off the victory on track's most hallowed stadium: Oregon's Hayward Field. It's the same stadium where American running legend Steve Prefontaine made a name for himself before tragically perishing in a car wreck in 1975.

GoPSUSports.com has a detailed account of Franek's run to victory:

After running with the pack of 16 finalists for the first 400-meters, Franek opened up a decisive gap over the rest of the field, winning by an impressive 13-second margin over runner-up Emma Coburn of Colorado. Franek's finishing time was 9:38.86 - the second-fastest effort of her accomplished career.

Franek's win was one of 12 All-American placing finishes (anyone who finishes at least fourth in an event) amongst the men's and women's teams. Blake Eaton led the men's team with a third place finish in the shot put. You can read the entire article here for all the details. In the meantime, the good folks at GoPSUSports.com were kind enough to put up a YouTube clip of Franek's leaving everyone in the dust




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