April 25, 2015
PHILADELPHIA -- The Penn State track & field team closed out the 2015 Penn Relays with top-10 finishes across the board Saturday in front of 48,920 fans at Franklin Field. Michael Shuey (Johnsonburg, Pa.) led the Nittany Lions with his second-place finish in the championship section of the men's javelin.
Shuey posted a throw of 241 feet, 9 inches on his third attempt to take the lead, but his throw did not hold as John Ampomah of Middle Tennessee State tallied an NCAA-leading toss of 267-6 to claim the title on his fourth attempt.
Also competing in the men's javelin, Ryan Kerr (Brookville, Pa.) tallied a fourth-place finish in the college section with his toss of 227-0. Kerr's toss today is the No. 9 mark all-time in the Penn State record books.
After setting the No. 7 4x200-meter relay time in school history at the season-opening Florida Relays, the quartet of Megan Osborne (Chillicothe, Ohio), Deja Davis (Shelby Charter Township, Mich.), Quenee Dale (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and Dynasty McGee (Flint, Mich.) improved their spot in school history at the Penn Relays.
The Nittany Lions clocked in at 1 minute, 35.52 seconds to place sixth in the women's 4x200-meter relay Championship of America section. Their time Saturday ranks sixth all-time in the Penn State record books.
Osborne, Davis and McGee were not done for the day as they returned to the track for the college section of the women's 4x400-meter relay. Tichina Rhodes (Philadelphia, Pa.) joined the trio for the 4x400-meter relay.
The 4x400-meter relay of Osborne, McGee, Rhodes and Davis posted a season-best time of 3:37.59 en route to a third-place finish.
The Nittany Lions also took to the track for the men's and women's 4x800-meter relays.
On the leadoff leg of the men's 4x800-meter relay, Jordan Makins (Perth, Aus.) suffered a foot injury that put the Nittany Lions behind and they could not catch back up.
Makins, Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.), Robert Rhodes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio) finished 10th as a team with their time of 7:26.54.
The women's 4x800-meter relay of Julie Kocjancic (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Victoria Crawford (State College, Pa.), Cara Ulizio (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Greta Lindsley (Lancaster, Pa.) posted another top-10 finish for the Nittany Lions at the Penn Relays Saturday as they finished ninth with a time of 8:55.25.
Steve Waithe (Parkville, Md.) represented the Nittany Lions in the championship section of the men's triple jump. Waithe went onto finish eighth with his mark of 50-6.75.
At the 2015 Penn Relays, Penn State won the men's shot put (Darrell Hill), the women's 5,000-meter run (Elizabeth Chikotas) and the men's sprint medley relay (Xavier Smith, Sancho Barrett, Alex Shisler and Brannon Kidder). Since 1910 the Nittany Lions have won 113 Penn Relays titles.
The Nittany Lions will split squads next weekend as they head to the Maryland Twilight meet (May 1) in College Park, Md., and the Payton Jordan Invitational (May 2) in Palo Alto, Calif.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.