April 16, 2015
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State track & field team is on the road this weekend for its final tune-up before the prestigious Penn Relays next weekend. The majority of the Nittany Lions are slated to compete at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge, La., and a handful of student-athletes will head to the Bucknell Team Challenge in Lewisburg, Pa.
LSU ALUMNI GOLD
When: April 18
Where: Bernie Moore Track Stadium | Baton Rouge, La.
Start Time: 8:30 a.m. CDT
BUCKNELL TEAM CHALLENGE
When: April 18
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium | Lewisburg, Pa.
Start Time: 9:30 a.m. EDT
LAST TIME OUT - BUCKNELL CLASSIC
SATURDAY
The Penn State track & field team opened up the Bucknell Classic with numerous top-five finishes Saturday at the Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Four Nittany Lions went onto claim individual titles, including Robby Creese's (Mount Airy, Md.) fourth-best time in the country in the men's 1,500-meter run.
Day one of the Bucknell Classic featured only distance and field events.
Creese won the invite section of the men's 1,500-meter run with the fourth-best time in the NCAA (3:41.74). Creese currently holds the facility record at the Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium with his time of 3:41.32 (2013). Also in the race, Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio) finished third (3:44.57).
Penn State also claimed first-place finishes in the invite section of the women's 1,500-meter run, the women's high jump and the men's javelin.
In the men's javelin, Ryan Kerr (Brookville, Pa.) posted a distance of 212-0 and Ahmenah Richardson (Philadelphia, Pa.) cleared a height of 5-8 in the women's high jump.
The invite section of the women's 1,500-meter run featured four top-10 finishes from Penn State. Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.) and Elizabeth Chikotas (Hellertown, Pa.) claimed the top-two spots with their times of 4:22.93 and 4:23.24, respectively.
Greta Lindsley (Lancaster, Pa.) rounded out the top-five of the race with her time of 4:29.90 and Julie Kocjancic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished seventh (4:32.66).
SUNDAY
The Penn State track & field team won five individual event titles Sunday at the Bucknell Classic at the Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Nittany Lions took the top spot in both the men's and women's shot put with first-place finishes from Rachel Fatherly (Williamsport, Pa.) and Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.).
Fatherly won the women's shot put with her toss of 50-4.50 and placed second in the women's hammer throw (178-5). On the men's side, Hill won the shot put with his mark of 64-8.50.
Annjulie Vester (Homburg, Germany) won her first event title as a Nittany Lion. In her outdoor season debut, Vester set the No. 6 mark (181-10) in school history en route to a first-place finish in the women's hammer throw.
Also setting a Penn State record book performance, freshman Obeng Marfo (Ontario, Canada) recorded a personal-best distance of 48-11.50 to place second in the women's shot put. Marfo's performance Sunday in the women's shot put moved her into tenth all-time in the Penn State record books.
The duo of Lexi Masterson (Jeannette, Pa.) and Kasey Kemp (Irwin, Pa.) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the women's pole vault. Masterson cleared 12-8.25 and Kemp posted an outdoor season personal-best height of 12-2.50. A week after cracking the Penn State top-10 list, Kemp moved into sole possession of ninth-place.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
During the 2015 outdoor season, the Nittany Lions have recorded eight top-10 all-time performances in the Penn State record books. At the 2015 Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) Games, Dannielle Gibson (Nassau, Bahama) moved into fourth all-time in the triple jump (42-9.75) at Penn State.
B1G HONORS
APRIL 15
Junior Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.) has been named the Big Ten Men's Track Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference office Wednesday afternoon (April 15). This is the third career award for Creese.
This past weekend at the Bucknell Classic, Creese won the men's 1,500-meter run with his time of 3:41.74. Earlier this season at the Florida Relays, he finished 11th in the men's 800-meter run with his personal-best time of 1:48.54.
Creese currently ranks fourth in the 1,500-meter run and 24th in the 800-meter run.
APRIL 8
Following his performance at the season-opening Florida Relays, junior Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio) has been named the Big Ten Men's Track Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference office Wednesday afternoon (April 8). This is the third career award for Kidder.
At the Florida Relays, Kidder finished third in the men's 800-meter run with his time of 1:47.14 and he also ran the second-leg of the second-place 4x800-meter relay (7:22.22).
In the men's 800-meter run, Kidder ranks sixth in the NCAA and he has the top time in the Big Ten. His time is also the fastest since his freshman year when he finished third at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
IN THE RANKINGS
Six Nittany Lions currently rank in the top-15 in the NCAA in their respective events. On the track, Brannon Kidder is sixth in the men's 800-meter run (1:47.14), Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.) is fourth in the men's 1,500-meter run (3:41.74) and Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.) ranks ninth in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:13.26).
In the field, Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.) ranks fifth in the men's shot put (64-11.50), Rachel Fatherly (Williamsport, Pa.) is 11th in the women's shot put (53-2.75) and Michael Shuey (Johnsonburg, Pa.) is 15th in the men's javelin (231-5).
NO. 16 IN THE LAND
NEW ORLEANS -- The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its updated National Computer Rankings and the Penn State men's track & field team is ranked No. 16. The Nittany Lion men are the top Big Ten team in the USTFCCCA National Rankings.
At the season-opening Florida Relays, Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.) and Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio) tallied scored performances in the men's 800-meter run. In the 800-meter run, Kidder is 11th (1:47.14) andCreese is 43rd (1:48.54). They also have scored performances in the 1,500-meter run.
In the 1,500-meter run, Kidder is second (3:38.82) and Creese is 14th (3:41.03).
In the field events, the Nittany Lions have six marks ranked in the USTFCCCA National Computer Rankings. The triple jump duo of Steve Waithe (Parkville, Md.) and Brian Leap (Bellwood, Pa.) rank 11th (52-11.50) and 34th (51-6.50), respectively.
Senior Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.) currently has the fourth-best scored mark in the shot put (67-6) and javelin throwers, Michael Shuey (Johnsonburg, Pa.) and Cole Proffitt (Manheim, Pa.) rank 13th (238-6) and 44th (224-4), respectively.
Robert Cardina (Lancaster, Pa.), a sophomore, is eighth in the decathlon with his score of 7,666 points. Cardina also ranks 40th in the high jump with his height of 7-0.25.
Last year at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Cardina placed eighth in the decathlon (7,666 points), Kidder finished 12th in the 1,500-meter run (3:44.30), Hill placed 15th in the shot put (62-9.50) and Waithe and Leap finished fifth (52-11.50) and 16th (51-6.50), respectively, in the triple jump.
The Nittany Lion men opened up the 2015 outdoor season ranked 15th; their highest ranking is 11th, a feat they achieved twice in 2013.
WRAPPING UP INDOOR
With the indoor season in the books, the Nittany Lions recorded 14 top-five school record performances, including a pair of school records.
At the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships, Penn State captured six Big Ten titles en route to a third-place finish by the women and a fourth-place finish by the men.
Nationally, nine Penn State student-athletes recorded first team All-America finishes and the Penn State men tallied a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. The NCAA meet was highlighted for Penn State by a runner-up finish in the men's distance medley relay by Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio), Alex Shisler (State College, Pa.), Za'Von Watkins (Liverpool, N.Y.) and Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.).
ROAD WARRIORS
The Nittany Lions are scheduled to compete in seven meets in five states before they return to Happy Valley for the Jim Thorpe Invite (May 8). Following the Jim Thorpe Invite, Penn state will travel to East Lansing, Mich. (Big Ten Outdoors), Jacksonville, Fla. (NCAA First Round) and Eugene, Ore. (NCAA Outdoor Championships)
TWELVE SIGN EARLY
Twelve new student-athletes signed their National Letter of Intent during the week-long early signing period in November. Colin Abert (Easton, Pa.), Devin Bradham (Williamstown, N.J.), Frances Bull (Mentor, Ohio), Isaiah Harris (Lewiston, Maine), Maddie Holmberg (Greensburg, Pa.), Peter Hughey (Chambersburg, Pa.), David Lucas (Lititz, Pa.), David Marrington (Langhorne, Pa.), Sam Reiser (St Kilda, Aus.), Sarah Stanley (South Park, Pa.), Abby Stultz (Frederick, Md.) and Grace Trucilla (Erie, Pa.) have signed a National Letter of Intent and will attend Penn State next fall.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions head to Franklin Field (Philadelphia, Pa.) for the 121st Penn Relays next week. The Penn Relays take place April 23-25.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.