April 20, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. -
The Nittany Lions men's and women's track and field squads to post 17 event victories - despite cold and windy conditions - Saturday at the Bucknell Team Challenge at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium. Paced by a pair of individuals victories from junior Marlene Ricketts (Westbury, N.Y.), the Penn State women's contingent also came away with the team title, scoring 228 points to better host Bucknell with 128.
Ricketts captured dual event wins in the horizontal jumps, earning top honors in the long and triple jumps. Ricketts' gold-medal performances included efforts of 18-9.75 (5.73) in the long jump, and 41-9.25 (12.73) - a season best by just over two inches - in the triple jump.
Highlighting things in the men's field events was redshirt-junior Will Barr (Urbana, Ohio), who launched a career-best 207-10 (63.35) to place second in the hammer throw. Barr's mark - which is the second-best toss in Penn State history - currently stands fourth among Big Ten competition. Barr added a victory individually, taking the men's discus with a throw of 173-9 (52.95). Senior Nabil Mubarak (Loganville, Ga.) picked up another victory in the men's throws, finishing in first-place standing in the shot put, thanks to a season-best effort of 55-7.50 (16.95).
The Lions fared well in the throws across the board, including victories from Jane Swenson (Brandon, S.D.), and Melissa Kurzdorfer (Lancaster, N.Y.) in the women's shot put (49-01/14.96) and women's hammer (193-02/58.88), respectively. Performing well in the circle throughout the day was freshman Rachel Fatherly (Williamsport, Pa.), who managed runner-up standings in the shot, discus, and hammer. Meanwhile, sophomore Laura Loht (McClure, Pa.) was tops in the women's javelin, turning in an effort of 155-9 (47.47).
Also posting a victory in the field events was freshman Ahmenah Richardson (Philadelphia, Pa.), who topped out at 5-5.25 (1.66) to win the high jump. Junior Jon Hendershot (Nazareth, Pa.) made it a clean sweep for the Nittany Lions in the event, besting the men's high jump field with a clearance of 6-8.25 (2.04).
On the track, redshirt-junior Mahagony Jones (Cleveland, Ohio) backed up her sizzling effort from a week ago, matching her career best in the 100 meters with a finishing time of 11.55 - good for top honors on the day. Sophomore Dynasty McGee (Flint, Mich.) was also a winner on the afternoon, besting the field in the women's 400. Junior Bernard Bennett-Green (Philadelphia, Pa.) matched McGee's effort on the men's side, also taking top honors in the 400, to go along with a runner-up standing in the 200.
The Nittany Lion crew would also sweep both hurdle events on the women's side, with Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas) taking the 100-meter hurdles in 13.64, and Kiah Seymour (Washington, D.C.) finishing first in the 400-meter hurdles at 59.34.
The Nittany Lions would also pick up a relay victory, besting the field in the men's 4x100-meter relay, thanks to the efforts of Sancho Barrett (Amityville, N.Y.), Emunael Mpanduki (Harare, Zimbabwe), Aaron Nadolsky (Altoona, Pa.), and Brandon Bennett-Green (Philadelphia, Pa.).
The Blue and White will be back in action next week, competing at the prestigious Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania. Action at the relays gets underway on Thursday, April 25, at Franklin Field.