Feb. 6, 2016
FINAL RESULTS | FINAL TEAM STANDINGS | Post-Meet Video Recap with Coach Gondak
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - On a day that featured the return of Penn State track & field alum and 2015 IAAF world champion shot putter Joe Kovacs back to campus, the Nittany Lions would turn in several strong performances on the final day of the Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup at Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
Penn State would continue the dominance they have displayed at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup in recent years with the Penn State women's team winning the meet scoring 211 points while the men would rack up 178 points of their own to win the men's title.
Rachel Fatherly, who won the women's weight throw last night, would again enter the ring, this time for the women's shot put. Fatherly would need a single throw to wrap up the competition, setting a new meet and school record in the event with her throw of 17.27m (56'-8.00") on her first attempt of the day.
"On that first throw I told myself `stay down and relax' and then I hit it and I knew it was huge," said senior Rachel Fatherly. "I walked out of the circle I ran back to the measuring tape and it was over 17.20m so I knew it was a school record and I started jumping and screaming in excitement."
"We've been working for this a long time," said assistant coach Pat Ebel. "I told her we need to do this on the first throw, and sure enough it came on her first throw. She maintained technique, stayed nice and wrapped at the front and took now a school record which was exciting to watch on her first throw."
Competing with Fatherly in the women's shot put were teammates Alyssa Robinson and Obeng Marfo. Marfo would finish in fourth with a best throw of 15.47m (50'-9.25"), while Robinson would take sixth-place with her best mark of 14.01m (45'-11.75").
While Fatherly handled business in the women's shot put, Jon Yohman would reciprocate the same result on the men's side with his first-place finish in the men's shot put with his mark of 17.40m (57'-1").
Morgan Shigo and Will Pope rounded out the scoring in the event for Penn State finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, with their marks of 16.25m (53'-3.75") and 16.22m (53'-2.75").
The 800-meters, as it was last week when Brannon Kidder laid down the No. 3 time in the NCAA in the event this season clocking 1:47.01, proved to be a must see event as freshman Isaiah Harris raced his way to the No. 5 time in the country, second amongst freshmen, so far this season with his time of 1:47.31 setting a new meet record and personal best in the process.
"I'm pretty happy with how it went," said Isaiah Harris. "Coach set it up with (Brannon) Kidder pacing the field through 600-meters and Kidder went through 600-meters perfect. I knew I had it in me I just had to get the pacing right and everything went perfect today. I felt smooth and coach said I looked smooth so good day overall."
Robert Rhodes would also score in the event with his fourth-place finish recording a time of 1:52.50 to grab five points for the Nittany Lions.
The women's 800-meters would see Julie Kocjancic set an indoor personal best in the event as she crossed the finish line in 2:12.14 in a second-place finish behind Princeton's Kaitlin Hanss' 2:11.52.
Penn State would pick up another 19 points in the men's 600-meters as Riley Gaibler took the event in a time of 1:20.68 picking up 10 points in the process. Following Gaibler in the 600-meters were Joseph Phifer in third (1:21.20) and Brad Rivera in sixth with his time of 1:22.02.
For the women's 600-meters it was freshman Frances Bull finishing as the top athlete in the event for Penn State recording a season best time of 1:33.11 securing second-place followed closely by teammates Sarah Jane Underwood in third (1:33.23) and Rachael DeCecco in fourth with her time of 1:34.67.
In the lone sprint discipline of the day, Penn State would see five athletes score in the event between the men's and women's teams.
Xavier Smith would lead the charge for the men with his second-place finish in a race that came down to the wire as Connecticut's Trentan Beram and Smith would run identical 21.40's with Beram getting the nod for the win.
Adding to the point total for Penn State in the men's 200-meters were Alex Shisler and freshman dual-sport athlete Dan Chisena with their contributions of 21.65 and 21.75, respectively, to take fourth and fifth-place.
Anton Porter would take eighth-place in a personal best time of 21.99 seconds.
For the women, Deja Davis would lead the way as she would take fourth-place in a season best time of 24.73 followed closely by Quenee Dale in fifth-place 13 one-hundredths of a second behind Davis in a time of 24.86 seconds.
Moving up to the 400-meters, it was Alex Shisler and Tichina Rhodes giving the Nittany Lions event wins with their times of 47.57 and 55.15 - both season best times.
Megan Osborne would round out the scoring in the 400-meters for the women with her fifth-place finish in a time of 56.41, a season best, while Samuel Reiser capped the scoring for the men also finishing fifth in a time of 48.22 (season best).
Also recording a season best in the 400-meters was freshman Peter Hughey with his time of 49.15.
Ean DiSilvio, Colin Abert, and John McGowan would net points for the Lions in the men's 3000-meters finishing second, third, and fifth, respectively.
Freshman Kobren Frederick would take fifth in the men's triple jump with his season best mark of 14.25m (46-9"), while Kaitlyn Lopez stole the show in the women's triple finishing the competition with a personal best mark of 12.34m (40'-6") to take first-place.
In the vertical jumps, Chisom Ifedi and Ahmenah Richardson would take event titles with Ifedi clearing 2.09m (6'-10.25") and Richardson clearing 1.77m (5'-9.75").
Megan McCloskey would take second in the women's high jump (1.77m/5'-9.75"), while Devin Bradham would finish in fifth-place for the men.
Representing Penn State as the lone pole vaulter on the day, Patrick Anderson would finish in sixth-place clearing 4.82m (15'-9.75") a personal best.
Wrapping up action from the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track was the women's 4x400 meter relay. The quartet of Osborne, Bull, Davis, and Rhodes would finish the day with a season best time of 3:43.03 in their first-place finish.
Penn State will return to the track this coming weekend as the teams will split between Seattle, Wash. and Staten Island, N.Y. as the Nittany Lions will compete in the Huskey Classic and the Fastrack National Invite.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.