May 2, 2015
Final Results
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Three Nittany Lion junior distance runners posted personal-best performances at the Payton Jordan Invitational Saturday. Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.), Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.) and Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio) climbed the NCAA leaderboards with their times at the Cobb Track.
After setting the school record in the 1,500-meter run last year at the Payton Jordan Invite, Kidder came close to breaking Casimir Loxsom's school record time of 1:45.28 in the 800-meter run Saturday.
Today, Kidder posted an NCAA-leading, and No. 2 Penn State all-time performance, time of 1:45.58 en route to a second-place finish in the 800-meter run.
Kidder bided his time near the back of the pack for the majority of the race and he made a strong move down the backstretch to put himself in contention for the win. Unfortunately, professional runner Boris Berian clocked in at 1:45.30 to hold off Kidder for the victory. With his time Saturday, Kidder jumps from eighth to second all-time at Penn State.
"Brannon has had a ton of success on this track," Gondak said. "Last year he ran the NCAA-leading 1,500 time at the Payton Jordan, but this year we wanted to focus on the 800-meter run and his performance today showed his great fitness level right now."
For the Penn State women, Gerlach was consistently near the top of the field throughout the 3,000-meter steeplechase, as she finished as the top collegian and No. 3 overall in her section. With her personal-best time of 9:57.47 Saturday, she becomes the second Nittany Lion to break the 10-minute barrier in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. She now ranks seventh in the NCAA this season and improves her No. 2 time at Penn State.
"Tori ran one of the best races I have ever seen her run in a Penn State uniform," Gondak said. "She had a plan and executed it perfectly. Her goal was to break 10 minutes and in doing so, she became the second Nittany Lion under 10 minutes and she is No. 7 in the NCAA this year."
On her race Saturday, Gerlach said, "It's been a goal of mine for awhile (to break 10 minutes) and it gives me a lot of confidence heading into championship season."
Heading into the final lap of the 1,500-meter run, Creese made his move to take the lead, but was edged out by Oklahoma State's Chad Noelle for the win (3:38.35). Down the homestrech, Creese held off Oklahoma State's Kirubel Erassa (3:39.05) for the runner-up finish (3:39.02). Creese now has the No. 2 time in the NCAA this year and the No. 3 all-time performance in school history.
"Robby ran a very smart race tonight and when he sensed the pace slowing the third 400, so he jumped to the lead at the bell to make a run at breaking 3:40 and the school record (3:38.82)," Gondak said.
Also competing at Stanford, redshirt freshmen Ean DiSilvio (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Bobby Hill (Wellsboro, Pa.) both posted fifth-place finishes with their personal-best times Saturday. DiSilvio clocked in at 9:07.10 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Hill posted a time of 3:49.30 in the 1,500-meter run.
The Nittany Lions return to the track Friday (May 8), as they host the Jim Thorpe Invite at the Nittany Lion Outdoor Track.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.