May 30, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Six more Nittany Lions qualified for the 2014 NCAA Track & Field Championships after their Friday performances in Jacksonville, Florida.
Redshirt-senior Mahagony Jones (Cleveland, Ohio) qualified for the NCAA Finals with a second place finish in her heat of the 100 meters (11.39) and sophomore Kiah Seymour (Washington, D.C.) also advanced to Eugene running a 55.95 to place second in her heat of the 400 hurdles. Redshirt-senior Evonne Britton (El Paso, Texas) qualified in the 100 hurdles with a third-place in her heat in a time of 13.33 and also earned a spot in the NCAA Championships with her fourth-place time of 57.41 in the 400 hurdles. In the last event of the night, sophomore Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.) auto-qualified with a third place finish in her section of the steeplechase. Gerlach's time of 10:03.55 is a new PR and is second all-time at Penn State.
Jones will also compete in the 200 meters after a time of 23.06 in her heat today.
Steven Waithe |
In the field events, both Steven Waithe (Parkland, Maryland) and Brian Leap (Bellwood, Pennsylvania) qualified for the NCAA Championships. Waithe finished fourth with a jump of 52-8.25 and Leap jumped 51-.25 to place 11th.
Friday's six qualifiers join senior Brittney Howell (Wyncote, Pa.), junior Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), senior Melissa Kurzdorfer (Lancaster, New York) and senior Laura Loht (McClure, Pennsylvania) to represent the Nittany Lions at the 2014 NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
NCAA East Preliminary action in Jacksonville continues Saturday at noon with the men's pole vault. Track events will start at 6 p.m. with the men's 4x100 meter relay.