UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team competed in its first event of the 2023 indoor season when it took the track at the Nittany Lion Challenge on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions tied a program record, set two international records, and achieved many personal bests throughout the course of the competition. The Nittany Lions also had multiple NCAA top-five performances in a fantastic outing for the team to begin competition in 2023.
"It was a solid start to the season for Penn State Track & Field," head coach John Gondak said. "We had some really good things happen today, including a school record by [Cecelia Bacon] on the high jump, and some other extremely impressive performances. Looking forward to getting on the road next week down at Virginia Tech and continuing to improve and see how we respond in week two of the season."
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Highlighting the day's historic events was Bacon's program record-tying effort in the high jump. Her 1.83m/6-0 effort tied Alexa Parks (2020) for the indoor record at Penn State.
Additionally, two international records fell today, both in the men's 1,000m run. Yukichi Ishii set a new Japanese national indoor record with a 2:21.99, followed by Handal Roban's St. Vincent & the Grenadines national indoor record-breaking 2:24.08.
EVENT SUMMARY
Penn State began its day with an event victory in the women's mile run, with Faith DeMars posting a 4:47.19 to win the event. Sophia Toti finished right behind DeMars with a personal-best 4:48.14, giving the Nittany Lions their first 1-2 finish of the day.
The women's shot put wrapped up next, as NCAA No. 1 Mallory Kauffman earned another event victory for Penn State. Multi-event athlete Maddie Pitts also competed in the shot put for Penn State, recording a personal-best 10.38m/34-0.75 throw.
In the men's mile, Christopher DeSousa (4:12.42, 6th), Hayden Healey (4:13.95, 8th), and Behailu Bekele-Arcuri (4:17.45, 12th) all competed in the event for the first time, building a solid foundation for the upcoming season.
Tesia Thomas finished second overall with a 5.60m/18-4.5 effort, with freshman Shannon Mullin (5.46m/17-11) slotting in at fifth for the Nittany Lions.
In the 600m, Penn State took second behind a 1:32.16 by Victoria Vanriele on the women's side and it claimed third on the men's side with a 1:19.61 by freshman Carter Fitzgerald.
More personal records were achieved for the Nittany Lions as the day moved along, with Lauren Princz (7.64) recording her best time in the 60m dash and fellow sprinters Zoey Goldstein (55.43, 1st) and Jermecia Brown (55.45, 2nd) recording career highs in the 400m as they combined for another Penn State 1-2 finish. Princz cemented her day with another PR in the 200m, with a 24.59.
Program record-holder Luke Knipe returned to the pole vault pit and claimed first place in the event with a 5.05m/16-6.75 clearance.
Penn State earned its third 1-2 finish on the day, with James Onwuka (47.76) and Korbin Martino (47.79) claiming first and second in the men's 400m.
The Nittany Lions showed out in the 1,000m. For the women, Rachel Gearing (2:47.43) won the event in her very first time competing in at the distance. At the time of the event, Gearing's time slotted in as the third-best in the country in the 2022-23 indoor season. On the men's side, six Nittany Lions set new personal records in the event, with Olivier Desmeules (2:21.97 PR) taking the event title. Additionally, Yukichi Ishii's personal-best time of 2:21.99 set a new Japanese national indoor record and Handal Roban's personal-best effort of 2:24.08 set the national indoor record for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Isaac Osifo took home the high jump title for the men, with his 2.09m/6-10.25 clearance earning the win. Freshmen Timothy Watson (2.00m/6.75, T-4th), Joey Walker (2.00m/6-6.75, T-4th), and Andrew Beten (1.95m/6-4.75) all competed for the first time as Nittany Lions.
In the women's pole vault, Penn State earned yet another event victory, as Hailey Zurich cleared the bar at 4.03m/13-2.5 for the win. Meredith Baham (3.58m/11.90) finished third.
Up next, Kileigh Kane took home the title in the women's 3,000m in her first time competing in the event with a 9:28.97. Makenna Krebs finished right behind her with a 9:30.55. Graduate student Libby Benzer posted a personal-best 9:52.77 and finished fourth.
In the men's 3,000m, graduate student Brandon Hontz crushed his personal best by nearly eight second to finish second with a time of 8:05.38. Tanner Piotrowski eclipsed his PR by ten seconds to finish fourth with a time of 8:14.16.
As the competition wound down, Cecelia Bacon upped the energy with a program record-tying performance in the women's high jump. Bacon cleared 1.83m/6-0 to tie Alexa Parks for the indoor high jump record at Penn State. Carlie Wilson finished third in the event with a 1.73m/5-8 clearance while Gwen Cudmore came in sixth with a personal-best 1.70m/5-7.
The Nittany Lions finished second in both the men's and women's 4x400m relay events and Tyler Merkley wrapped up the night with a new PR in the weight throw. Merkley's 21.92m/71-11 throw set his own personal best and, at the time of the event, slotted in as the fourth-best throw in the country in the 2022-23 season. Collin Burkhart gave the Nittany Lions their final 1-2 finish of the day with a personal best 19.88m/65-2.75 toss to finish second.
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UP NEXT
Penn State will hit the road and head to Virginia Tech for the Hokie Invitational next weekend. The event will run from Friday, Jan. 20 through Saturday, Jan. 21.
