MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Highlighted by Yasmin Brooks' golden run, the Penn State track and field team completed its Big Ten Championships with a big day of event finals Sunday at the University of Minnesota Track & Field Stadium.
The Nittany Lions concluded with the women's team scoring 82.5 points to place fourth, while the men's team scored 61 points to place seventh in the competition.
Brooks became the Nittany Lions' Big Ten Champion when she won the women's 100-meter hurdles finals with a new season-best time of 12.99. Her top performance earned ten points for the Nittany Lions.
After her title in the 100-meter hurdles, Brooks also raced to a fifth-place finish in the women's 400 meter hurdles finals to add score four points with a clocked time of 58.54.
Five other Nittany Lions earned medals on the final day of competition. Kevin Bartosh and Collin Burkhart earned silver and bronze medals in men's javelin, Lance Hamilton won bronze in men's triple-jump. Also earning bronze medals were Madaline Ullom in the women's 1500 meters and Rachel Gearing in the women's 800 meters.
POINT SCORING MOMENTS
The men's javelin group earned Penn State's first points of the day with four student-athletes scoring 19 points in the event. Kevin Bartosh earned a second-place finish after throwing a new personal-best mark of 68.05m (223-3) to score eight points. Finishing right behind him was Collin Burkhart, whose throw of 65.54m (215-0) clinched a bronze finish.
Clinching the sixth spot was Tristan Schmidt, with his best throw on the day reaching 60.61m (198-10) to score three points. Chris Fredericks rounded out the group with a throw of 59.62m (195-7) to finish seventh and score two points.
In the men's pole vault competition, two Nittany Lions earned a total of five points. Luke Knipe cleared the bar at 5.25m (17-2.75) to finish in sixth place and score three point. Jon Peterson was right behind Knipe with a new personal-best mark of 5.15m (16-10.75) to place seventh and add two points to Penn State's total.
Mallory Kauffman earned a fifth-place finish in women's shot put to score five points behind a throw of 16.91m (55-5.75).
In the men's triple jump, Lance Hamilton set a new season-best mark of 15.80m (51-10) to finish third and score six points for the Nittany Lions. Wesley Matsuka-Williams also had a season-best jump of 15.56m (51-0.75) to earn two points with a seventh-place finish.
Another personal best performance from Tyler Merkley in men's discus wrapped up the scoring the field competitions for Penn State. His throw of 55.26m (181-3) was good for seventh place and earned another two points for the Nittany Lions.
On the track, a trio of Nittany Lions earned points in the 1500-meter races. On the women's side, Madaline Ullom finished third in the race to score six points with a time of 4:23.81. Kileigh Kane also earned a point with an eighth-place finish thanks to a 4:26.17 time.
For the men, Brandon Hontz finished seventh in the 1500-meter finals to score two points. His time was 5:35.85.
In the men's 400-meter finals, Korbin Martino sprinted to a seventh place with a time of 47.77 to score two points for Penn State.
Ka'mere Day earned a seventh place in men's 100-meter finals to score two points behind a wind-aided time of 10.25 (+3.1), which still marked a season best time for the sophomore.
Four Nittany Lions earned a total of 18 points in the two 800-meter finals. For the women, Rachel Gearing ran to a third-place finish with a time of 2:06:39. The third place finished earned six points for the team.
In the same race, Victoria Tachinski finished right next to Gearing in fourth place at 2:06.64 and earned five points.
Olivier Desmeules brought home a fourth-place finish in men's 800-meter finals to score five points. His clocked time was 1:52.37.
Domenic Perretta crossed the line soon after with a time of 1:52.73 for a seventh-place finish and two more points for the Nittany Lions.
In the women's 5000-meter race, Faith DeMars ran to a fifth-place finish with a time of 16:29.12, good for four more points.
The Nittany Lions' final points of the competition came in the women's 4x400 relay. The Nittany Lion's team of Zoey Goldstein, Jane Madson, Rachel Gearing and Victoria Tachinski finished seventh to score two points with a time of 3:43.00.
UP NEXT
Penn State awaits entries to the 2022 NCAA East Preliminary Round, which will be held May 26-29 at Indiana.
