Jan. 14, 2016
Meet Program | Schedule of Events | Heat Sheets |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -The Nittany Lion track and field program continues their January home stand this weekend as they host the Nittany Lion Challenge Saturday at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. The competition begins at 10:30 a.m. with the women's 20-lb weight throw. Live results are available on GoPSUsports.com for free.
THE NITTANY LION CHALLENGE
When:Saturday, January 16
Where:Ashenfelter III Indoor Track
Start time:10:30 a.m. (women's weight throw)
Cost:Admission is free
SCHOOLS COMPETING
Akron, Binghamton, Cornell, Georgetown, Miami (Fla.), Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and West Virginia
LAST TIME OUT - PENN STATE RELAYS
The Penn State track & field program opened the 2016 indoor season with several strong performances Saturday at the Penn State Relays including three school records and two meet record en route to 17 event titles at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
Penn State would start the day off with a win in the first event of the day as Rachel Fatherly's throw of 64'8" (19.71m) led the entire field by almost three feet. Alyssa Robinson would finish behind Fatherly in second with a best mark of 61'9.5" (18.83m). Fatherly would once again take to the circle, this time for the shot put. The senior from Williamsport, Pa. would win her second event of the day with a throw of 53'5.5" (16.29m). Teammates Obeng Marfo and Alyssa Robinson would finish third and seventh with marks of 49'5" (15.06m) and 45'7.75" (13.91m), respectively.
The men's weight throw would see Morgan Shigo and Kory Decesaris both finish inside the top-five. Shigo took second-place with a throw of 64'5" (19.63m), while Decesaris claimed fourth with a mark of 58'9.5" (17.92m). Shigo would return for the shot recording a seventh-place finish (50'9.5"/15.48m) behind teammate and event winner Jon Yohman's mark of 55'1.5" (16.80m).
Kobren Frederick and Kaitlyn Lopez would advance to the finals of the men's and women's triple jump, respectively. Frederick would finish with third (45'5.75"/13.86m), while Lopez took second with a best jump of 37'10.75" (11.55m).
Lopez and Frederick would return to the runways again, this time to compete in the long jump.
Frederick would finish eighth behind teammates Cody Minnig in fourth-place (22'5.75"/6.85m) andMalik Moffett who took second-place in the competition with a best jump of 22'8.5" on the day. Lopez would finish fifth in the women's long jump leaping out to a mark of 17'9" (5.41m), but it was Penn State's Madeline Holmburg who stole the show. The freshman from Greensburg, Pa. took the individual honors by winning the long jump with a best jump of 19'2.5" (5.85m).
The men's and women's pole vault would provide some of the most exciting action on the day as two meet records and a school record would be set.
Army's Lee Bares would reset the men's meet record previously held by Cornell's Evan Whitehall at 16'4.75" (4.99m) after successfully clearing 16'10.75" (5.15m) to place his name in the Penn State Relay record books.
In the women's pole vault, Penn State would finish 1-2-3-4 as Lexi Masterson would finish on top with a new meet and school record.
Masterson passed on the first four bars opting to enter the competition at 12'6.25" (3.82m), the junior from Jeannette, Pa. would clear four-straight bars with the final bar coming at a Penn State Relays and Penn State Indoor track and field record height of 13'6.25" (4.12m), erasing the old record of 13'5.5" (4.11m) set by Sarah Dougherty in 2004. Hannah Mulhern would take second with a huge PR of 13'4.25" (4.07m), besting her previous career best of 12-3.25 (3.74) by over a foot. Kasey Kemp and Megan Fry would each clear 12'6.25" (3.82m) to finish third and fourth, respectively.
The high jump events would see two Penn State underclassmen take home bragging rights as Sophomore Megan McCloskey took the title for the women clearing 5'8" (1.73), while true-freshman Chisom Ifedi took the title on the men's side clearing a personal best 7'1.5" (2.17m). Ifedi's personal best heading into the weekend was 6'10" during his prep career. Robert Cardina also delivered a great performance in his first meet of the year following an injury plagued 2015 with a clearance of 6'9" (2.10m).Freshmen Devin Bradham and Malik Moffett also competed in the high jump finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.
Madeline Holmberg notched another win for the Nittany Lions on the women's side in long jump while Moffett finished as the top male triple jumper for Penn State finishing second (22'8.5"/6.92m).
The 60-meter hurdles showcased sophomore Quenee Dale in a near meet record performance clocking 8.33 just a mere six one-hundredths of a second off the meet record set by Penn State'sEvonne Britton in 2014. Madeline Holmburg would finish third in the finals of the 60m hurdles alongside Dale.
Keianna Albury, a freshman from Nassau, Bahamas stepped up her first time wearing the blue & white running a meet best time of 7.58 seconds for the win. Xavier Smith would replicate the win on the men's side in record fashion breaking the old school record of 6.76 held by Ernie Terrell set in 2003 by laying down a 6.70 on the Horace Ashenfelter III track. Smith's 6.70 also breaks the meet record held by Dennison Long of 6.74 set in 2014.
The 4x800m relay of Julie Kocjancic, Victoria Crawford, Elizabeth Chikotas, and Tori Gerlach ran their way into the Penn State Relay record book with their performance of 8:45.85, falling .25 seconds short of breaking the Penn State indoor record.
Other Penn State wins on the day include, the men's 4x800m relay (7:25.28), Tichina Rhodes in the women's 200m (24.67), Alex Shisler in the men's 200m (21.47), Both the men's and women's Distance Medley Relays, and the men's 4x400m relay.
Penn State will host the 2016 Nittany Lion Challenge Jan. 16th at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.
LAST YEAR AT THE NITTANY LION CHALLENGE
The Penn State track & field team captured 10 titles at the 2015 Nittany Lion Challenge inside the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Several Nittany Lions used the Nittany Lion Challenge to open up their 2015 indoor season.
The day started out with the men's one mile run. Matt Fischer (Kennett Square, Pa.) made his season debut for Penn State with a fifth-place finish in the men's one mile run (4:11.71). Also in the men's one mile, Bobby Hill (Wellsboro, Pa.) and Ean DiSilvio (Altoona, Pa.) finished eighth (4:16.81) and ninth (4:17.65), respectively.
Elizabeth Chikotas (Hellertown, Pa.) opened up her season last week running on the women's distance medley relay, but today she ran in the women's one mile run. Around 600 meters into the race, Chikotas made a strong charge to move into the lead pack. She continued to run with Georgetown's Haley Pierce and Becca Deloache.
With one lap to go, Chikotas found herself in second place and down the homestretch she finished strong to pass Pierce to capture the race with her time of 4:46.54. Pierce clocked in at 4:46.79 for second place. Also in the women's one mile run, Stephanie Aldrich (West Chester, Pa.) finished 10th with her season-best time of 5:02.87.
The Nittany Lions tallied three top-eight finishes in the men's 800-meter run with Brannon Kidder(Lancaster, Ohio) leading the charge; Kidder clocked in at 1:48.54 to finish second. Also in the men's 800-meter run, Za'Von Watkins (Liverpool, N.Y.) placed fifth with his time 1:50.80 and Ryan Brennan(Chester, N.Y.) took eighth with his time of 1:53.68.
Cara Ulizio (Redondo Beach, Calif.) placed seventh in the women's 800-meter run with her time of 2:15.83.
The Nittany Lions posted top results in both 60-meter hurdle events. In the men's 60-meter hurdles,Sancho Barrett (Amityville, N.Y.) advanced to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles with his leading time of 8.09 and in the finals he finished first with his season-best time of 8.04. In the women's 60-meter hurdles, Shelley Black (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and Quenee Dale (Ypsilanti, Mich.) both advanced to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles as they both ran 8.64. In the finals, the freshman, Dale, finished second with her time of 8.46 and Black finished fourth with a time of 8.62.
Robert Rhodes (Brooklyn, N.Y.), a University of Connecticut transfer, won his first race as a Nittany Lion Saturday. He clocked in at 1:19.69 to win the 600-meter run.
Freshmen Rachael DeCecco (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) and Victoria Crawford (State College, Pa.) finished sixth (1:37.51) and eighth (1:38.33), respectively, in the women's 600-meter run.
Xavier Smith (Douglasville, Pa.) advanced to the finals of the 60-meter dash with his time of 6.96 in the prelims. Smith went onto place fourth (6.892) in a highly contested race. The top four finishes were within one second of each other. Jaalen Jones won the race with his time of 6.882. Smith also competed in the 200-meter dash.
Smith ran a season-best time of 21.65 to finish second in the men's 200-meter dash and Barrett finished seventh with his personal-best time of 22.26.
Dynasty McGee (Flint, Mich.) led the Penn State women in the 200-meter dash with her fourth-place finish (24.59). Also in the women's 200-meter dash, Tichina Rhodes (Philadelphia, Pa.) (25.34) and Deja Davis (Shelby Charter Township, Mich.) (25.42) finished 10th and 11th, respectively.
In the women's 400-meter dash, Megan Osborne (Chillicothe, Ohio) ran a personal-best time of 55.22, but Albany's Grace Claxton edged Osborne at the finish line to take the victory (55.07).
Penn State captured four of the top-five spots in men's 1,000-meter run behind a first-place finish by Robby Creese (Mount Airy, Md.).
Also in the race with Creese was Wade Endress (Altoona, Pa.), Kidder, Joey Logue (Blooming Glen, Pa.) and Jordan Makins (Perth, Australia). Kidder set the tone early in the race with Creese close behind. Kidder held the lead after 400 meters, but Creese made his move and he would not look back. Creese split 1:52 at the 800-meter mark and picked up the pace for the final portion of the race. Creese crossed the finish line with a time of 2:20.24, while Endress (2:22.57), Makins (2:22.69) and Logue (2:22.77) finished third through fifth.
Julie Kocjancic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led the Penn State women in the 1,000-meter run with her third-place finish (2:55.22).
Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed up his first-place finish last week in the men's shot put with another first-place finish today. Hill captured the shot put title with his toss of 64-5.25.
Freshmen Jon Yohman (New Wilmington, Pa.) and Will Pope (South Salem, N.Y.) finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in the men's shot put. Yohman tallied a mark of 53-9.25 and Pope recorded a distance of 46-7.50.
Hill also finished third in the men's weight throw with his mark of 61-8.25. Also in the men's weight throw, Justin Berg (Phoenixville, Pa.) took fifth with his distance of 57-11 and Kory Decesaris (Danielsville, Pa.) placed seventh with a toss of 56-5.25.
Rachel Fatherly (Williamsport, Pa.) won the women's shot put with her meet record distance of 51-7. Also finishing in the top-five of the women's shot put for Penn State was Obeng Marfo (Ontario, Canada) and Alyssa Robinson (Saint Clairsville, Ohio). Marfo placed third (46-7.25) and Robinson finished fifth with a toss of 43-7.25.
Fatherly also posted a mark of 62-6 to place fourth in the women's weight throw. Annjulie Vester (Homburg, Germany) made her Penn State debut with a fifth-place finish in the women's weight throw with her mark of 57-00.75. Also finishing in the top-10 of the women's weight throw was Robinson. Robinson finished eighth with her distance of 56-6.
In the horizontal jumps, Steve Waithe (Parkville, Md.) won the men's triple jump with his mark of 52-1, Brian Leap (Bellwood, Pa.) finished second in the men's triple jump with a personal-best jump of 51-9.75 and Kaitlyn Lopez (Buffalo, N.Y.) took second in the women's triple jump with her leap of 38-11.
Freshman Bryce Williams (State College, Pa.) posted a pair of top-five finishes on the afternoon. Williams finished fourth in the long jump (21-8.75) and fifth in the triple jump (46-8.25).
In the high jump events, Michael McClelland (Washington, Pa.) won the men's high jump with his height of 6-9 and the Penn State women claimed spots two, three and four in the high jump event. Ahmenah Richardson (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Sarah Palmer (Gansevoort, N.Y.) both cleared a height of 5-7 to finish second and third, respectively. India McCoy (Ambridge, Pa.) took fourth in the women's high jump with her mark of 5-5.
Lexi Masterson (Jeannette, Pa.) won the women's pole vault with her height of 12-8.25, whilePatrick Anderson (Kane, Pa.) finished third in the men's pole vault with his personal-best height of 15-7.
The quartet of B. Hill, Brad Rivera (Bensalem, Pa.), Cody Amengual (West Babylon, N.Y.) and DiSilvio represented Penn State in the distance medley relay. The foursome went onto finish first with their time of 10:11.95.
The Penn State men ended their day with a fifth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Brennan, Rhodes, Logue and Watkins combined for a time of 3:18.49.
The Penn State `A' women's 4x400-meter relay team of Osborne, Kiah Seymour (Washington, D.C.),Tichina Rhodes (Philadelphia, Pa.) and McGee ran a time of 3:40.70 to finish second.
NITTANY LION NEWS & NOTES
NATIONAL RANKINGS
After the first weekend of competition, the Nittany Lions have several performances that rank in the top-20 in the nation. According to Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFFRS), Penn State has 17 top-20 performances.
Nittany Lion athletes with top-20 marks include:
Men's DMR 9:56.58 No. 1
Lexi Masterson PV 4.12m/13'6.25" No. 2
Men's 4x400m Relay 3:11.39 No. 2
Chisom Ifedi HJ 2.17m/7'1.5" No. 2
Women's DMR 11:43.09 No. 3
Hannah Mulhern PV 4.07m/13'4.25" No. 3
Timothy McGowan Mile 4:08.20 No. 5
Rachel Fatherly SP 16.29m/53'5.5" No. 6
Xavier Smith 60m 6.70 No. 7
Quenee Dale 60H 8.33 No. 7
Women's 4x400m Relay 3:45.22 No. 8
Rachel Fatherly WT 19.71m/64'8" No. 11
Alex Shisler 200m 21.47 No. 14
Colin Abert Mile 4:11.70 No. 18
Alyssa Robinson WT 18.83m/61'9.5" No.19
Obeng Marfo SP 15.06m/49'5" No.19
Morgan Shigo WT 19.63m/64'5" No. 20
BREAKIN' RECORDS
Two school records were broken between the men's and women's track & field teams last meet. Lexi Masterson passed on the first four bars opting to enter the pole vault competition at 12'6.25" (3.82m) at last week's Penn State Relays. The junior from Jeannette, Pa. would clear four-straight bars with the final clearance coming at a Penn State Relays and Penn State Indoor track and field record height of 13'6.25" (4.12m), erasing the old record of 13'5.5" (4.11m) set by Sarah Dougherty in 2004.
Xavier Smith would win the men's 60m in record fashion breaking the old school record of 6.76 held by Ernie Terrell set in 2003 by laying down a 6.70 on the Horace Ashenfelter III track. Smith's 6.70 also breaks the meet record held by Dennison Long of 6.74 set in 2014.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Nittany Lions are set to welcome teams from across the nation into the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track as they host five meets during the 2016 indoor season. Penn State will not travel until Feb. 12-13 when they split squads to two meets (Husky Classic, Fastrack National Invitational).
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State does not compete next week, but returns to the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track on Jan. 29-30 for the Penn State National. The Penn State National will be streamed live on Flotrack.org.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.