May 26, 2017
RESULTS
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Penn State added to its national qualifiers on day two as five Nittany Lions punched their tickets to Eugene at the NCAA East Preliminary hosted by the University of Kentucky.
Jon Yohman added his name to the list with his performance in the shot put Friday afternoon at the UK outdoor track. Yohman finished in the top-12 with a mark of 62'-9.25" (19.13m), earning his first trip to the NCAA Championships during his time in Happy Valley. Yohman becomes the first Penn State athlete to qualify for the NCAA meet in the shot put since Darrell Hill in 2015.
#WeAre headed to Eugene! Congrats to Jon Yohman on advancing to the NCAA Championships in the shot put 🎟👊 pic.twitter.com/jjn6iEkeZF
-- Penn State T&F/XC (@PennStateTFXC) May 26, 2017
The 800-meter quarterfinals featured three ticket punching performances in Isaiah Harris, Domenic Perretta and Danae Rivers.
All three earned their spot in Eugene by way of the Auto-Q by finishing in the top three of their respective heats.
Harris won his heat running the fastest-time of the day 1:45.92, while true freshman Domenic Perretta dove through the line to earn his spot with a final time of 1:47.87. Harris' time is a new facility record. Rivers earned her Auto-Q running 2:02.68.
#WeAre headed to Eugene! Congrats to Danae Rivers on advancing to the NCAA Championships in the 800-meters 🎟👊 pic.twitter.com/9VYmbF7wnq
-- Penn State T&F/XC (@PennStateTFXC) May 26, 2017
#WeAre headed to Eugene! Congrats to Isaiah Harris on advancing to the NCAA Championships in the 800-meters 🎟👊 pic.twitter.com/vMFBRLLUI9
-- Penn State T&F/XC (@PennStateTFXC) May 26, 2017
#WeAre headed to Eugene! Congrats to Domenic Perretta on advancing to the NCAA Championships in the 800-meters 🎟👊 pic.twitter.com/QmLTbpFd9J
-- Penn State T&F/XC (@PennStateTFXC) May 26, 2017
Tori Gerlach was the final Nittany Lion to earn a ticket to Eugene on Friday with her performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Gerlach earned an Auto-Q to the Championship by finishing in the top-three of the event in a time of 10:04.62. Gerlach makes a return to the NCAA meet in the steeplechase for the first time since she competed in the championships in 2015.
#WeAre headed to Eugene! Congrats to Tori Gerlach on advancing to the NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase 🎟👊 pic.twitter.com/fmkucUiLVG
-- Penn State T&F/XC (@PennStateTFXC) May 27, 2017
Advancing to the quarterfinal in the 200-meters were Keianna Albury and Malik Moffett. Albury advanced on time running a personal best 23.33, while Moffett advanced by virtue of an Auto-Q by finishing third in his preliminary heat running 20.81.
Xavier Smith competed in the quarterfinals of the 100-meters just missing out on qualifying for the NCAA Championships by one one-hundredth of a second (0.01) running 10.41 seconds.
Also competing on day two for Penn State were Rachel Banks in the 800-meter quarterfinal (2:12.06), Greta Lindsley in the steeplechase (10:36.80), Obeng Marfo in the discus (164'-4/50.09m), David Lucas in the shot put (54'-10"/16.71m) and Megan McCloskey in the high jump (5'-8.50"/1.74m).
Penn State currently has 12 student-athletes qualified through to the NCAA Championships in Eugene with several athletes still in contention for those final spots.
Penn State will return for the final day of the NCAA First-Rounds tomorrow starting at 2 p.m. ET with the men's discus.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.