Results
Dec. 13, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Four members of the Penn State track & field team won multiple events to lead the Blue team to a 138-130 win over the White team Saturday afternoon at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Shelley Black (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.), Rachel Fatherly (Williamsport, Pa.), Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Brian Leap (Bellwood, Pa.) swept their respective events for the Penn State Blue team.
The meet was still up for grabs heading into both 4x400-meter relays. The White team on the women's side held a 68-67 lead over the women's Blue team, while the Blue team on the men's side held a 61-59 lead over the White team.
The women's Blue 4x400-meter relay team of Black, Ahmenah Richardson (Philadelphia, Pa.), Deja Davis (Shelby Charter Township, Mich.) and Typhanee Booker (Cibolo, Texas) took an early lead and would not look back as they finished with a time of 3 minutes, 54.67 seconds to secure the meet for the Blue team.
On the men's side, the Blue 4x400-meter relay team of Riley Gaibler (Lansdale, Pa.), Joey Logue (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Thomas Damiani (Tunkhannock, Pa.) and Brad Rivera (Bensalem, Pa.) sealed the title for the men as they posted a time of 3:24.68.
Fatherly won the shot put (49 feet, 5 inches) and won the weight throw (62-3.25), while Hill swept the shot put and the weight throw on the men's side for the Blue team. Hill posted distances of 64-3.25 (shot put) and 58.11.25 (weight throw).
Leap of the Blue team also tallied a pair of victories on the afternoon. Leap cleared a distance of 22-10 in the long jump and a mark of 49-11 in the triple jump.
Black won the 300-meter dash title (40.40) and the 60-meter hurdles (8.59). Davis finished second in the 300-meter dash with her time of 40.49.
On the men's side, Alex Shisler (State College, Pa.) won the 300-meter dash with his time of 33.99.
Both 3,000-meter races provided excitement for the fans. For the majority of the women's race, Elizabeth Chikotas (Hellertown, Pa.), Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.) and Jillian Hunsberger (Pittsburgh, Pa.) ran as a pack, before Chikotas made her move with a few laps to go. Once Chikotas made her move there was no looking back for the freshman from Hellertown, Pa.
Chikotas went onto win the race for the Blue team with her time of 9:37.72. Less than a second separated Gerlach and Hunsberger; Gerlach finished second (9:45.23) and Hunsberger placed third (9:45.61).
On the men's side, Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.) claimed the 3k title for the Blue team. Creese finished in 8:09.13, followed by a second-place finish from Wade Endress (Altoona, Pa.) (8:14.88) and Glen Burkhardt (Kennett Square, Pa.) took third (8:15.18).
Malik Moffett (Erie, Pa.) (6.88) edged Xavier Smith (Douglasville, Pa.) (6.91) in the 60-meter dash to give the Blue team another victory on the afternoon.
Representing the White team, Dannielle Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) posted a mark of 19-11 to win the women's long jump and she also won the triple jump with her leap of 41-0.25.
Lexi Masterson (Jeannette, Pa.) and Erin Knabe (Voorhees, N.J.) took the top two spots in the women's pole vault. Masterson cleared a height of 13-2.25 to win the event and Knabe finished second with her height of 12-2. While in the men's pole vault, Robert Cardina (Lancaster, Pa.) finished first with his height of 14-5.25.
Sancho Barrett (Amityville, N.Y.) claimed the 60-meter hurdles title with his time of 8.10 and in the women's 60-meter dash Booker (7.65) took home the title over Gibson (7.70).
Robert Rhodes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) won the 500-meter dash as he clocked in at 1:05.23. While in the women's race, Rachael DeCecco (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) won the event with her time of 1:17.69.
Logue, of the Blue team, finished strong down the backstretch of the 1,200-meter run to pass Jordan Makins (Perth, Australia), of the White team, for the win with his time of 3:03.43. Makins finished the race in 3:03.53.
The White team swept the top three finishes in the women's 1,200-meter run. Greta Lindsley (Lancaster, Pa.) clocked in at 3:38.34 for the win, followed by a second-place finish by Julie Kocjancic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) (3:41.13) and a third-place finish from Hannah Catalano (State College, Pa.) (3:42.06).
Michael McClelland (Washington, Pa.) and Moffett (Erie, Pa.) finished first and second in the high jump, respectively with their marks of 6-7 and 6-5.
Richardson cleared a height of 5-10.50 to win the women's high jump for the Blue team.
On Friday night the javelin throwers were able to compete inside Holuba Hall. The Penn State White team won both javelin competitions.
Michael Shuey (Johnsonburg, Pa.), the defending Big Ten champion, won the men's javelin throw with his toss of 238-10. Also in the men's javelin, Cole Proffitt (Manheim, Pa.) and Tyler Hope (Tamaqua, Pa.) finished second (223-0) and third (197-6), respectively.
In the women's javelin throw, Anna Bailey (Harrisburg, Pa.) posted a distance of 137-9 to finish first, while Melanie Leszcynski (Audobon, Pa.) took second with her toss of 135-2.
Following winter break, the Nittany Lions are back in action at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track as they host the Penn State Indoor Relays on Jan. 10.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.