Jan. 23, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State track & field competed at the Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational this past weekend at the Nutter Field House turning in a school record performance and adding to the list of Nittany Lions in the top-20 rankings of the NCAA performances this season. Let's take a look back at the 2017 Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational with this week's Penn State Track & Field Rewind.
As mentioned, Danae Rivers continues to be a force in the mid-distance events, this time rewriting the school record in the 800-meters running the No. 2 time in the NCAA this season 2:04.04.
Rivers erased the 10-year-old record of 2:05.67 previously held by Briene Simmons from 2007 finishing second in the event at the McCravy Invtl. trailing fellow freshman Aaliyah Miller of Baylor who won the event in 2:03.43.
The freshman from Derby, CT smashed the old school record by over a full second in only her second time on the track in an individual event in the Blue & White.
In just as spectacular a performance, sophomore Isaiah Harris ran the No. 2 time in the NCAA in the 800-meters as well clocking 1:46.65 to win the event running his second fastest time ever indoors behind his performance at the Big Ten Indoor Championships when Harris ran 1:46.24 setting the all-time Big Ten indoor record.
Harris wasn't the only Nittany Lion making noise in the event as freshman teammate Domenic Perretta ran a personal best time of 1:49.29 that ranks as the 11th-fastest time this year.
Perretta won his heat and did it in come-from-behind fashion comfortable cruising past competitors in the final 50-meters to take the heat.
A 1-2 finish in the 200-meters landed Penn State's Malik Moffett and Xavier Smith the NCAA's No. 11 and No. 19 times, respectively.
Smith and Moffett hold two of the top-five performances in the event; Smith and Moffett are tied for the second fastest time in Penn State indoor history with their 21.02's they ran last season as a sophomores.
Rob Cardina completed his first heptathlon this season, finishing second in the event with a two day total of 5,295 that is currently the No. 9 performance in the NCAA.
During the two day event, Cardina, who holds the school record for the heptathlon long jump, 60-meters and total points, added another record to the list in the heptathlon shot put.
Cardina set the record with his throw of 46'-6.25" (14.18m) erasing the old heptathlon record of 45'-10" (13.97m) set by James Cook in 1998.
Morgan Shigo propelled himself on to the NCAA scene with his performance in the weight throw.
Shigo finished the meet with a mark of 66'-4.50" (20.23m) that ranks No. 3 all-time in Penn State indoor history and is currently the No. 25 best throw in the NCAA.
Also jumping into the NCAA top-25 in the throws was junior Obeng Marfo with her performance in the shot put at the McCravy Invitational.
Obeng finished with a mark of 52'-4" (15.95m) in the event and is currently ranked No. 22 in the nation in the event.
In total, Penn State has 51 Big Ten top-20 performances this season, with 28 of them in the top-10 and four performances that lead the conference. For a complete list of Penn State's Big Ten top-20 marks click here.
Penn State will return to action Jan. 27-28 as they return home to host the Penn State University National Open at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track that will be broadcast on FloTrack and BTN2Go.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.