INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA announced Wednesday that four members of the Penn State track & field team have qualified to compete at next week's NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala.
Based on their top qualifying results from this season, junior mid-distance runners Evan Dorenkamp, Allison Johnson and Victoria Tachinski and thrower Mallory Kauffman will compete at the national event scheduled for March 11 and 12. Qualifiers ranked in the top 16 in the nation in their respective events.
Dorenkamp qualified in the men's mile after setting the Penn State program record with a time of 3:55.02. The time ranks seventh in the NCAA this season. Dorenkamp is no stranger to the national stage, as he competed in the 800m run at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Nittany Lions will have two representatives in the women's 800m run, as freshman Allison Johnson and senior Victoria Tachinski will be making their first trips to the NCAA Championships. The Nittany Lions finished 2022 ranked No. 1 in the TFRRRS 800m rankings, with Johnson ranking third in the NCAA with a program record setting time of 2:02.84 and Tachinski ranking 10th with a time of 2:03.83 . Johnson became the sixth straight Nittany Lion to claim the Big Ten 800m Championship last weekend.
Also making her first trip to the NCAA Championships is thrower Mallory Kauffman, who ranks 14th in the nation in the shot put. Kauffman's 17.19m throw at the Penn State Tune-Up ranks third in program history.
The full list of participants can be found here.
ESPN3 will stream the championships live starting at 11 a.m. Eastern time Fri., March 11 and starting at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time Sat., March 12. A re-air of the championship will take place starting at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time Sun., March 13 on ESPNU.
Photo by Billy Cvecko