Leah O'Connor cemented her claim to MSU's greatest women's athlete yesterday by winning her fourth steeplechase title at the Big Ten Track & Field Championships at Ralph Young Field.
O'Connor is the defending NCAA champion in the event and won the NCAA indoor 1500-meter championship this winter. She was also a key member of the women's cross country team which won MSU's first NCAA title last fall. She breezed into today's 1500-meter competition with a 4.22.82, giving MSU three runners in the 1:05 p.m. final on the meet's final day. Leah is only the second Spartan woman to win four consecutive conference championships. Odessa Smalls won four titles at 200 meters between 1984 and 1987.
Redshirt freshman Katelyn Daniels also went gold on Saturday, winning the discus with a conference meet and school record throw nearly three meters beyond her previous personal best and leaving MSU tied with Minnesota for first place with 52 points. The MSU stands fourth in men's competition behind Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois after Antonio James also set a school record in the discus to win his second conference title in the event.
O'Connor is the defending NCAA champion in the event and won the NCAA indoor 1500-meter championship this winter. She was also a key member of the women's cross country team which won MSU's first NCAA title last fall. She breezed into today's 1500-meter competition with a 4.22.82, giving MSU three runners in the 1:05 p.m. final on the meet's final day. Leah is only the second Spartan woman to win four consecutive conference championships. Odessa Smalls won four titles at 200 meters between 1984 and 1987.
Redshirt freshman Katelyn Daniels also went gold on Saturday, winning the discus with a conference meet and school record throw nearly three meters beyond her previous personal best and leaving MSU tied with Minnesota for first place with 52 points. The MSU stands fourth in men's competition behind Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois after Antonio James also set a school record in the discus to win his second conference title in the event.
