BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Penn State track and field senior Tyler Merkley qualified for the NCAA National Championship meet in Eugene, Ore., and two other Nittany Lions advanced to the quarterfinal rounds of their events Wednesday to kick off the NCAA East Preliminaries at host site Indiana University.
Merkley became the Nittany Lions' first NCAA Championship qualifier of the week after he won the men's hammer throw with a toss of 70.79m (232-3) to punch his ticket to Eugene for the second-straight season.
Brandon Hontz clinched an automatic qualifying spot in the men's 1500m run and advances to Friday's quarterfinals race. Hontz finished fourth in heat one with a time of 3:48.50, with the top five finishers of each heat earning automatic spots in the quarterfinals.
Olivier Desmeules also qualified for Friday's quarterfinals in the men's 800m after clocking a new personal-best time of 1:48.15 to place in the top 24.
Luke Knipe placed 19th in men's pole vault after his best height clearance of 5.19m (17-0.25).
Sophomore Kevin Bartosh finished 20th in the men's javelin with a top throw of 65.04m (213-5). Making his NCAA East Prelims debut, freshman Collin Burkhart competed in both the hammer throw and javelin, earning marks of 63.78m (209-3) 62.68m (205-8) respectively.
Also making his first NCAA East Prelims appearance, Darius Smallwood finished 27th in the men's 800m with a time of 1:50.20.
The Nittany Lions will resume action Thursday when the women's team begin competition with the hammer throw at 10 a.m.
