Penn State Freshman Danae Rivers Joins Small But Speedy Club

Penn State Freshman Danae Rivers Joins Small But Speedy Club

Penn State freshman Danae Rivers has some impressive range. This weekend she became the fifth woman in U.S. history have indoor PBs under 1:30/2:05/4:35.

Feb 1, 2017 by Meg Bellino
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Penn State freshman Danae Rivers has some impressive range. 

First, we saw her light up the track in the 600m at the Nittany Lion Challenge on January 14, breaking the PSU school record in 1:29.06. She then finished second behind Baylor's Aaliyah Miller in the 800m at the Rod McCravy Memorial a week later, running 2:04.04--three seconds better than her prep indoor best.

She put on a show at the Penn State National this past weekend, splitting 3:18 for the 1200m leg of the DMR, running an NCAA-leading time of 4:34.87 in the mile (above) and running a leg on the PSU 4x400m in 53 seconds.

Only five women in U.S. history have indoor PBs under 1:30/2:05/4:35.

Age They Joined Club Athlete 600(i) PB 800(i) PB Mile(i) PB
25 Charlene Lipsey 1:29.85 2:02.01 4:31.35
18 Danae Rivers 1:29.06 2:04.04 4:34.87
25 Geena Gall 1:29.43 2:02.56 4:31.75
27 Heather Kampf 1:27.78 2:02.33 4:27.26
26 Molly Ludlow 1:27.22 2:01.87 4:34.44
28 Morgan Uceny 1:27.70 1:59.97 4:27.99

"I expected to come in and work hard and basically see what happens," Rivers told FloTrack. "I got nothing to lose. I'm a freshman, right?"

Rivers hails from Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, Connecticut--the same high school as Penn State alum and 600m world record-holder Casimir Loxsom.


Rivers ran under 2:10 a number of times in high school, including a 2:05 run at the 2015 New England Championships, and has recorded a 4:47 1600m best. But all of this over three weekends? 

"Considering this is her third week in a Penn State uniform, still trying to figure that out [what kind of athlete she is], she did something great things in the fall with training that made me think she could do some special things on the track," PSU coach John Gondak said. "She continues to impress.

"Anytime you find someone who has that type of range, it's fun to pick and choose with her what we're going to focus on moving forward."

FloTrack caught up with Rivers after her DMR performance at this year's Penn State National