UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State’s Casimir Loxsom was named United States Track and Field/Cross Country Association Division I Men’s Athlete of the Week on Monday thanks to his performance over the weekend.
The senior middle-distance runner outran the field at the Nittany Lion Challenge on Saturday, turning in a time of 1 minute, 46.98 seconds to set Penn State, Ashenfelter Track, and meet records as well as post the top time this season in the NCAA and the world.
He is the first collegian to break the 1:47 barrier indoors on a non-oversized track since 2006 and his time is 10th all-time among American-born collegians.
Loxsom and Marlene Ricketts each picked up weekly honors from the Big Ten on Monday.
Loxsom was named the conference’s Track Athlete of the Week for his times in Saturday’s meet, while Ricketts was named Field Athlete of the Week for her career-best and conference-leading performance in the triple jump. The Big Ten-leading distance of 42 feet, 1/2 inch is the fourth-best among collegians this season and second all-time at Penn State.
The team will host the Penn State National on Jan. 25-26.
