May 13, 2016
Day One Results
LINCOLN, NE - Tessa Barrett raced her way to a bronze medal on the opening day of the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships on a windy Friday night at Ed Weir Stadium.
"I'm very pleased on both sides where we finished up today," said head coach John Gondak.
"To be quite honest, we were not predicted to score any points today, and to come away with a third-place finish in the women's 10K with Tessa Barrett's debut in the event - in what was an outstanding race for her - and Glen Burkhardt coming back after placing fourth last year to have a great fifth-place finish this year, we're ahead of schedule so to speak. We had a few other great things happen today, we had our two multi-event athletes in the heptathlon who had very strong days and are in position to score tomorrow as they finish up. Our hammer throwers came in and competed very well today, so overall Penn State had a very good day one."
Madeline Holmberg and Tal Ben-Artzi were the first athletes on the track for Penn State as they got things started at the Big Ten Championships competing in the heptathlon.
Holmberg finished the day in eighth-place posting marks of 14.39 in the 100-meter hurdles, 1.53m (5'-0.25") in the high jump, 11.45m (37'-6.75") in the shot put, and 24.98 seconds in the 200-meter to finish with day one total of 3,093 points.
Ben-Artzi, who finished fifth at last year's Big Ten Outdoor Championships with a two day total of 4,937, wrapped up the first day of action with a total score of 2,921 points while setting a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles clocking 15.12 over the high hurdles.
In the men's hammer throw it was the duo of Morgan Shigo and Kory Decesaris on deck for the Nittany Lions.
Decesaris, a junior from Danielsville, Pa., opened competition in the event for Penn State finishing action in the first flight with a best mark of 57.13m (187'-5.25"). The second flight featured the true freshman Morgan Shigo wrapping up the second flight posting a best mark of 59.81m (196'-2.75"). Shigo and Decesaris finished 12th and 14th, respectively.
Alyssa Robinson stepped in the cage next for the Nittany Lions in the women's hammer throw. Robinson finished the event with a best mark of 52.02m (170'-8") to take 17th-place.
In the final events of the day, the 10K, Glen Burkhardt and John McGowan represented the Nittany Lion men, while Tessa Barrett competed as the lone women's 10K athlete for Penn State.
Burkhardt, who entered the event ranked No. 9 athlete in the field, walked away with a fifth-place finish recording a time of 29:55.50 to net four points for the men's team while teammate McGowan took 14th-place in a season best time of 30:29.54.
Tessa Barrett, a 2015 cross country All-American, stepped to the line for the women's 10K having not competed in the event this season. The freshmen from Waverly, Pa. ran her way to a third-place finish on her first attempt at the discipline recording a time of 34:22.03.
Penn State returns to action tomorrow on the track and in the field with athletes set to compete in the prelims of their respective events. Field events are slated to begin at 12:45 p.m. CST with the men's discus while the first event on the track will be the prelims in the women's 1,500-meters.
Day two of the heptathlon will begin at 10:15 a.m. CST with the long jump followed by the javelin and capped with the 800-meters.
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.