Day One Results | Coach Gondak Interview
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion track & field program used several performances Friday at the Penn State National to move up the national and Big Ten rankings. Penn State posted two top-15 national performances, including the number two time in the country in the men's distance medley relay.
Rachel Fatherly (Williamsport, Pa.) won her second weight throw competition of the season Friday afternoon. Fatherly's winning toss of 67-5.25 is a lifetime-best for her and moves her into third all-time in the Penn State record books. Heading into this weekend, 67-5.25 is the 12th-best mark in the nation and the third-best distance in the Big Ten.
Also in the women's weight throw, Annjulie Vester (Homburg, Germany) placed second (62-6.50), Alyssa Robinson (Saint Clairsville, Ohio) finished sixth (58-7.50) and Obeng Marfo (Ontario, Canada) took ninth (56-0.50). All four Penn State throwers hit personal-best marks in the women's weight throw event.
On the men's side, Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.) (62-2.25) and Kory Decesaris (Danielsville, Pa.) (60-07.25) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the weight throw.
The men's distance medley relay came down to a photo finish with Georgetown edging Penn State at the finish line. Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio) ran the opening 1,200 leg for the Nittany Lions and with two laps to go, Kidder made his move and broke away from the pack. In the opening 1,200, Kidder split 2:51.
Robert Rhodes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) carried the Nittany Lions for the 400-meter leg and Za'Von Watkins (Liverpool, N.Y.) took over for the 800-meter leg.
Anchoring the Penn State distance medley relay was Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.). Heading into the final leg Creese found himself in third but he battled back to close the gap on Georgetown and Villanova and settled in with five laps to go. He went onto take the lead in the race with 600 meters to go.
In the final two laps, Creese, Amos Bartelsmeyer (Georgetown) and Dusty Solis (Villanova) all picked up the pace and sprinted towards the finish line.
Georgetown's Bartelsmeyer edged out Creese down the homestretch to claim first-place for the Hoyas. In the final 1,600, Creese split 3:57.8.
Georgetown finished first with its time of 9:28.22 followed by second-place Penn State (9:28.36) and third-place Villanova (9:31.36). The times tonight rank 1-2-3 in the NCAA. All-time, tonight's DMR's rank fifth (Georgetown) and sixth (Penn State), respectively.
Brian Leap (Bellwood, Pa.) finished third in the men's long jump with his personal-best distance of 24-0.25. His mark currently ranks second in the Big Ten. For the Penn State women, Dannielle Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) finished fourth in the women's long jump with her mark of 18-11.25.
The quartet of Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.), Megan Osborne (Chillicothe, Ohio), Julie Kocjancic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Elizabeth Chikotas (Hellertown, Pa.) ran to a third-place finish in the women's distance medley relay with their time of 11:22.61. In the final leg, the 1,600, Chikotas split 4:43.2.
Cody Minnig (Levittown, Pa.) represented Penn State in the men's 60-meter dash. Minnig advanced to the semifinals with a time of 6.92 and in the semifinals, Minnig finished 12th with his time of 6.95.
In the hurdle events, the Nittany Lions were represented in the finals in both the men's and women's races. Sancho Barrett (Amityville, N.Y.) and Quenee Dale (Ypsilanti, Mich.) both advanced to the finals in their respective races.
In the finals of the women's 60-meter hurdles, Dale finished seventh with her time of 8.56 and in the finals of the men's 60-meter hurdles, Barrett posted a time of 8.10 to finish eighth. In the semifinals, both Barrett (8.01) and Dale (8.48) posted season-best times.
Also posting a season-best time in the 60-meter hurdles was Shelley Black (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.). Black clocked a season-best time of 8.56 in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles.
In the men's pole vault, Patrick Anderson (Kane, Pa.) placed sixth with his height of 15-3.50 and Brandon Teribery (Bradford, Pa.) finished eighth with a his mark of 14-9.50.
Luke Pease (Haddonfield, N.J.) competed in the heptathlon competition for the Nittany Lions. On Friday, Pease scored 729 points in the 60-meter dash (7.45), posted 574 points in the long jump (19-6), recorded 548 points in the shot put (36-2.75) and tallied a height of 5-6 to score 528 points.
Overall, Pease is in fifth-place with 1,851 points. The 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and the 1,000-meter run conclude the heptathlon competition tomorrow.
The Penn State National concludes tomorrow starting at 11 a.m. inside the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.