Jan. 8, 2016
Meet Program | Schedule of Events | Heat Sheets | | Flotrack Stream ($)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion track and field program is set to open the 2016 indoor campaign this Saturday as they host the Penn State Relays at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. The Penn State Relays will be streamed live on Flotrack.org, but users must have a FloPro account. Live results will be available on GoPSUsports.com for no charge.
THE PENN STATE RELAYS
When: Saturday, January 9
Where: Ashenfelter III Indoor Track
Start time: 10 a.m. (Women's weight throw)
Cost: Admission is free
SCHOOLS COMPETING
Army, Bowie State, Bucknell (M), Iowa State (M), Lock Haven, Maryland, Norfolk State, Pittsburgh, Robert Morris (W), Saint Francis (PA), Saint Joseph (PA) (W), UMBC, Penn State.
LAST TIME OUT
The Penn State track & field teams competed in the annual Blue & White meet at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in Multi-Sport Complex Dec. 12 with Penn State-White holding off Penn State-Blue for the meet title. Penn State-White would take the meet title by a final score of 135-127 over Penn State-Blue.
LAST YEAR AT THE PENN STATE RELAYS
The Penn State track & field program opened the 2015 indoor season with strong performances across the board Jan. 10 at the Penn State Relays. The Nittany Lions set one school record, one facility record and three meet records en route to 10 event titles at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
The men's 4x800-meter relay and the men's DMR were the most anticipated events heading into the meet, but Darrell Hill's (Philadelphia, Pa.) performance in the shot put stole the show.
With the men's 4x400-meter relay just ending, everyone in attendance turned their attention to the turf as the senior from Philadelphia set the school record with his mark of 66-2.50 in the prelims. Hill had three more attempts in the finals, but was unable to best his already set school record. The previous school record of 65-7 was set by C.J. Hunter in 1990.
In the men's DMR, Princeton took an early lead heading into the 400 leg but senior Sancho Barrett (Amityville, N.Y.) tracked down Princeton's Garrett O'Toole to put the Nittany Lions back in the race. PSU and Princeton were neck-and-neck heading into the third leg. After anchoring the 4x800-meter relay earlier in the day, Creese went back to work on the track and put the Nittany Lions back in front.
The race came down to the final leg, the 1,600-meter run, between Penn State's Ean DiSilvio(Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Princeton's Luke Brahm. With the 300 meters left Brahm made his move and would not relinquish the lead as Princeton won the DMR with their time of 10:01.03. The quartet of Hill, Barrett, Creese and DiSiivio finished second with a time of 10:05.29.
NITTANY LION NEWS & NOTES
NO. 21 IN THE LAND
During the 2015 indoor season, the Penn State men's team posted three first-team All-American finishes at the NCAA Indoor championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Penn State men were highlighted at the championships by a runner-up finish in the distance medley relay. The quartet of Brannon Kidder, Alex Shisler, Za'Von Watkins and Robby Creese clocked in at 9:32.21 to finish second. For Creese, Kidder and Watkins it is their second career first team All-America finish in the distance medley relay, as they finished second at the 2013 NCAA meet
Kidder also finished seventh in the men's mile with his time of 4:04.48. His seventh-place finish in the men's mile Saturday is the highest Nittany Lion finish since Ryan Foster took third in 2011.
In the field, Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished fourth (64-8) in the men's shot put. With his fourth-place finish, Hill becomes the fourth Nittany Lion to finish fourth or higher at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the men's shot put and he also recorded the highest finish in the shot put since Joe Kovacs placed third in 2010.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
The Nittany Lions return five first team All-Americans from the 2015 indoor campaign. Brannon Kidder, Robby Creese, Alex Shisler, Megan Osborne, and Tichina Rhodes return to compete for the Nittany Lions this season.
BREAKIN' RECORDS
Two school records were broken on the men's track & field team last season. Darrell Hill set the indoor Shot Put record at 67'3.5 (20.51), while Robby Creese ran 7:50.36 to set the indoor 3,000 Meter.
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 Invite).
T&F SIGNS 11 EARLY
Eleven new student-athletes signed their National Letter of Intent during the week-long early signing period in November.
Rachel Banks | Hometown: Chardon, Ohio
Julia Guerra | Hometown: Oakland, N.J.
Kiara Lester | Hometown: Wenonah, N.J.
Kathryn Munks | Hometown: Central Valley, N.Y.
Danae Rivers | Hometown: New Haven, CT
Kelsey Vieira | Hometown: Hillsborough, N.J.
Austin Campbell | Hometown: Centennial, Colo.
Jaxson Hoey | Hometown: Downington, Pa.
Domenic Perretta | Hometown: Beaver Falls, Pa.
Ben Peterson | Hometown: Solon, Ohio
Michael Slagowski | Hometown: Meridian, ID
These 11 student-athletes have signed a National Letter of Intent and will attend Penn State next fall.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State is slated to host the Nittany Lion Challenge on Jan. 16 at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.