UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team competed in its annual Blue & White Intrasquad meet on Dec. 9 and 10 at home in Holuba Hall and Penn State's Multisport Facility and the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. The Blue team (M:81, W:66) edged out the White squad (M:69, W:38) in the final point tally.
The highlight of the meet was Olivier Desmeules' record-breaking performance in the indoor 600m. As the only official event on the weekend, Desmeules ran a 1:16.63 to set the Canadian U-23 National Record for the event.
"Very impressive last two days for the Blue and White squads of Penn State Track and Field," Head Coach John Gondak remarked. "We had many personal bests performances, a few top five all time Penn State Performances and a Canadian National Under-23 record for Olivier Desmeules in the 600m. We tasked the team to compete today, and they did. It sets us up nice for the break over the next few weeks with great momentum heading into January. Another key for us will be to get healthy over break so we can have the team at 100 percent when we compete next on Jan 14."
FRIDAY – M/W Javelin, M/W Discus
On the first night of the meet, the Blue & White competed in the javelin and discus throwing events in Holuba Hall's indoor facility. Collin Burkhart highlighted the night with an (unofficial) personal best 227-03 (69.27m) javelin throw.
SATURDAY – M/W Long Jump, M/W Pole Vault, M/W Shot Put, M/W Weight Throw, M/W 60mH, M/W 60m, M/W Triple Jump, M/W 600m, M 500m, M/W 300m, M/W 1200m, M/W 3000m, Mixed 4x400m Relay
Day two consisted of events inside the Multisport Facility and on the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Desmeules' record-setting 600m and Austin Gallant's effort in the 500m highlighted competition on the afternoon.
Penn State's afternoon saw many athletes, newcomers and veterans alike, perform in events in a competition atmosphere for the first time, with many unofficial personal bests being set at the intrasquad meet.
The shot put and pole vault events began competition first, with Luke Knipe (16-0.75 (4.90m), white team) and Hailey Zurich (13-3.5 (4.05m), blue team) taking the top spot in the vault and Mallory Kauffman (54-09.5 (16.70m), white team) and Duane Knisely (55-10.25, (17.02), blue team) placing first for their squads in the shot put.
Tyler Merkley (67-4.75 (20.54m), blue team) and Jean Starr (55-7.5 (16.95m), blue team) won the weight throw for their squad, with Starr setting an unofficial personal best with her effort.
The aforementioned 600m event saw Desmeules break the Canadian U-23 Record on the men's side but for the women, Rachel Gearing also set an unofficial personal best to win the event for the white team with a 1:29.71.
Following the 600m, the unofficial 1:02.43 time ran by Austin Gallant (white team) in his Nittany Lion debut would have ranked second in program history behind Casimir Loxsom's 1:01.28 effort in 2011.
Freshman Tim Watson (6-9 (2.06m), blue team) tied Isaac Osifo for the high jump win in his first taste of collegiate competition.
Representatives from the blue team won both the men's and women's 1200m and 3000m runs. Sarah Pickering (3:33.7) and Yukichi Ishii (2:57.5) took the top spot in the 1200m events, while Faith DeMars (9:27.08) and Kevin Haas (8:18.78) crossed the line first in the 3000m events.
In the final event of the afternoon, the white team's mixed 4x400 relay team posted a time of 3:23.64 to score over the blue squad.
UP NEXT
Following winter break, Penn State will return home to host the Nittany Lion Challenge on Jan. 14 at its indoor Multisport Facility and the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
