April 6, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State track & field program is headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to compete in the Battle on the Bayou on Saturday, April 7. The meet is scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. (CDT) start at the Bernie Moore Track.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live results on results.deltatiming.com.
THE MEET
Penn State will be competing in a scored meet against Iowa, LSU, and Purdue. In the national rankings, LSU ranks 10th on the men's side and fifth on the women's side, while the Penn State men are 17th, and the Purdue women rank 11th.
Saturday's Battle on the Bayou will feature a dual-meet scoring format as each of the four teams in the field will be scored head-to-head with each team finishing the day with three dual-meet scores.
Individual events will be scored using a 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring format with the top two finishers from each team factoring in the scoring, while relays will be scored with a 5-3 format with just one relay allowed to score for each team.
In regards to the schedule of events, the women's discus throw will kick things off at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) and the running events will start at 9:45 a.m. (CDT) with the women's 10,000-meter run.
LAST TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions are coming off a small contingent of Penn Staters competing at Florida and Stanford.
At the Florida Relays, the Nittany Lions tallied four top-five performances in school history, including the school record (4:10.82) in the women's 1,500-meter run by Danae Rivers.
In addition to Rivers' running 4:10.82 in the 1,500-meter run, freshman Terrance Laird tallied the No. 2 time in the men's 200-meter dash (20.41) and he tied the No. 4 time in the men's 100-meter dash (10.42).
Also at Florida, the quartet of Xavier Smith, Anton Porter, Laird, and Malik Moffett improved their No. 3 spot in the men's 4x100-meter relay with a time of 39.69.
At Stanford, Jillian Hunsberger moved from sixth to fourth in the women's 5,000-meter run with her performance of 15:55.27.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
With two weeks of the 2018 outdoor season complete, Penn State track & field has set five top-five performances in the Penn State record books.
On the men's side, Terrance Laird has posted the No. 2 time in the 200-meter dash (20.41) and he has tied the No. 4 time in the men's 100-meter dash (10.42).
As a relay, the quartet of Xavier Smith, Anton Porter, Laird, and Malik Moffett has set the No. 3 time in the 4x1 twice (39.77 & 39.69).
On the women's side, Danae Rivers has set the school record in the 1,500-meter run (4:10.82) and Jillian Hunsberger has run the No. 4 time in the 5,000-meter run (15:55.27).
No. 17 IN THE LAND
The Penn State men's track & field team ranks 17th in the nation, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
In the national rankings, Penn State is the No. 2 Big Team as Nebraska checks in at No. 14.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Heading into the Battle on the Bayou, the Nittany Lions have 11 performances ranked in the top-25 between the men's and women's programs.
No. 2 | Isaiah Harris | 800-meter run | 1:47.90
No. 2 | Danae Rivers | 1,500-meter run | 4:10.82
No. 4 | Terrance Laird | 200-meter dash | 20.41
No. 7 | Michael Biddle | javelin | 233-7
No. 11 | Morgan Shigo | hammer throw | 222-2
No. 11 | Jillian Hunsberger | 5,000-meter run | 15:55.27
No. 14 | Malik Moffett | 200-meter dash | 20.66
No. 17 | David Lucas | discus throw | 185-5
No. 20 | Xavier Smith, Anton Porter, Terrance Laird, Malik Moffett | 4x100-meter relay | 39.69
No. 21 | Timothy McGowan | 5,000-meter run | 14:01.80
No. 22 | Victoria Tachinski | 800-meter run | 2:07.72
UP NEXT
Penn State track & field returns to Central Pennsylvania to compete at the Bucknell Classic hosted by Bucknell University, April 14-15. The meet will take place at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.