March 27, 2016
Complete Results
Tempe, Ariz. - The Penn State track & field teams wrapped up their outdoor debut at the 2016 Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge hosted by Arizona State with the Big Ten conference grabbing the win on both sides while Penn State finished second and third amongst the men's and women's Big Ten competition, respectively.
The Nittany Lions used a beautiful day in the desert to turn in several strong performances and PR's en route to finishing the meet with 32 top-eight marks and 12 top-3 finishes over the weekend.
In the sprints, Xavier Smith (10.59), Dan Chisena (10.72), and Anton Porter (10.74) finished 4-5-6 in the 100-meters collecting 12 points, while Dannielle Gibson and Lauren Costa grabbed seven points together finishing 5-6 in the 100-meters running times of 12.14 and 12.23, respectively. Smith, Gibson and Costa all set personal best in the event.
The open quarter featured two Nittany Lions in scoring position as Tichina Rhodes and Alex Shisler took fourth and eighth-place , respectively, with their times of 55.12 and 47.98.
Quenee Dale recorded a top-three finish in the 100-meter hurdles clocking 13.88 in the event, 0.09 seconds off her personal best from last season.
Both the men's and women's 4x100-meter relays had strong showings as both relays took second-place while running faster times than all of last season. For the men, 39.92 is the first sub-40 second performance since 1975. The quartet of Chisena, Moffett, Porter and Smith raced their way to the No. 13 time in the nation thus far this season. The time also ranks as the No. 7 time in the east region at the moment.
The women's relay clocked 46.01 to collect eight points in the event, trailing only Big Ten foe Nebraska who won the race in 45.51 seconds.
Bobby Hill (1:52.03) and Billy McDevitt (1:52.51) took fifth and eighth-place to score in the event with McDevitt's time setting a personal best for the freshman from Newtown Square, Pa.
Timothy McGowan crossed the line as the highest finisher in the men's 1,500-meters for Penn state with his eighth-place finish in a time of 3:48.67, a new personal best, followed closely by Wade Endress in ninth and Ean DiSilvio in 10th-place with a personal best time of 3:49.72. In the women's 1,500-meters Sarah Jane Underwood grabbed the highest finish for the Nittany Lions with her 10th-place finish running 4:29.35 less than a second off her personal best.
John Dugan made his Penn State outdoor debut in the 3,000-meter steeplechase taking seventh-place in a time of 9:29.04.
In the field, David Lucas set a personal best mark in the discus throw with his mark of 51.83m (170'-0") finishing seventh in the event. Obeng Marfo took the top spot on the women's side for the Nittany Lions with her mark of 49.19m (161'-4") taking fifth while adding four points to the team total.
Women's pole vault saw two Nittany Lions finish in scoring position as Hannah Mulhern (3.88m/12'8.75") and Kasey Kemp (3.88m/12'8.75") took seventh and eighth-place.
Senior Brian Leap finished second in the men's long jump with his mark of 7.31m (23'-11.75") setting a new outdoor PR, falling just 0.01m/0'-25" short of his lifetime best set during the 2015 Penn State National. Malik Moffett scored in the event as well jumping 6.77m (22'2.50") to take eighth-place.
Dannielle Gibson, who posted a PR in the 100-meters earlier in the day, returned to competition, this time in the long jump where she finished second with her mark of 6.10m (20'-0.25") grabbing eight points for Penn State.
In the triple jump, it was again Leap and Gibson who stole the show with their first-place finishes. Leap easily won the event with his mark of 15.76m (51'-8.50"), while Gibson recorded the No. 1 mark in the nation thus far in the 2016 outdoor season with her mark of 13.00m (42'8"). Kaitlyn Lopez scored in the event for Penn State as she finished competition with a best mark of 12.22m (40'1.25") to take fourth-place.
The shot put saw four Nittany Lions finish in the top eight as Rachel Fatherly grabbed top honors on the women's side winning the event while posting a throw of 16.96m (55'7.75") followed closely by teammates Alyssa Robinson (15.93m/52'-3.25") in third and Marfo in fourth wrapping up competition with a mark of 15.63m (51'-3.50") to give Penn State three women over 51 feet in the same meet.
Jon Yohman took eight-place in the men's shot put with his hurl of 17.85m (58'-6.75")
Chisom Ifedi and Devin Bradham tied for second-place in the men's high jump with a best clearance of 2.00m (6'6.75") while Tal Ben-Artzi tied for third in the women's high jump clearing 1.60m (5'3").
In the final running event of the day, the 4x400-meter relay, Penn State's men's team finished fourth in 3:13.09, while the women's relay took eighth-place clocking 3:52.25.
Penn State is set to split squads between the Stanford Invite in Stanford, Calif and the 2016 Florida Relays in Gainesville, FL Apr. 1-2.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsÂports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.