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Meet Day: Penn State National Open

Jan. 26, 2017

Friday, January 27
4:00 p.m. ET

Saturday, January 28
 10:30 a.m. ET

MEET INFO |

BTN Plus Broadcast (Day One)
BTN Plus Broadcast (Day Two)

MEET PREVIEW

Teams Competing
AkronArmy
AshlandBinghamton
BucknellBuffalo
GeorgetownIowa State
IUPLa Salle
Lock HavenMaryland
Middle Tennessee StateMount St. Mary's
Norfolk StatePittsburgh
Ramapo CollegeSaint Joseph's
ShippensburgStanford
TempleTiffin
UMBCVermont
Virginia TechWest Virginia
Youngstown State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State track & field teams are back in action this weekend as they host the Penn State National Open at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Twenty-seven schools are making their way to Happy Valley for the prestigious two-day meet that will be streamed on FloTrack.com and simulcast on BTN Plus.

PENN STATE NATIONAL
When: Fri.-Sat., January 27-28
Where: Ashenfelter III Indoor Track
Start time: 4 p.m. Fri; 10:30 a.m. Sat.
Cost: Admission is FREE

SCHOOLS COMPETING
Akron, Army, Ashland, Binghamton, Bucknell, Buffalo, Georgetown, Iowa State, IUP, La Salle, Lock Haven, Maryland, Middle Tennessee State, Mount St. Mary's, Norfolk State, Pittsburgh, Ramapo College, Saint Joseph's, Shippensburg, Stanford, Temple, Tiffin, UMBC, Vermont, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Youngstown State

NATIONALLY RANKED TEAMS
Men
No. 13 Stanford, No. 16 Virginia Tech, and No. 21 Penn State

Women
 No. 20 Georgetown, and No. 23 Stanford

LITTLE LION LAP
The Little Lion Lap is open to children in K-5 and will take place at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.

The Nittany Lion will be joining the children for one lap around the track.


PENN STATE ON BTN Plus & FLOTRACK PRO
 The entire meet will be broadcast on BTN Plus, as well as on FloTrack with a FloPro subscription.

LAST TIME OUT
 Penn State track & field hit the road for the first time this season when they competed at the Nutter Field House in the 2017 Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational

A few of the outstanding performances at the 2017 Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational include:

Danae Rivers, who set a Penn State school record in the 600-meters in her first outing, continued her record breaking season; this time, in the 800-meters.
Rivers ran 2:04.04, posting the No. 2 time in the NCAA this season. Her school record performance erased the 10-year-old record of 2:05.67 previously held by Briene Simmons from 2007.

Isaiah Harris ran the No. 2 time in the NCAA in the 800-meters as well, clocking 1:46.65 to win the event. His 1:46.46 is his second fastest time ever indoors behind his performance at the Big Ten Indoor Championships when Harris ran 1:46.24 setting the all-time Big Ten indoor record.

Rob Cardina completed his first heptathlon this season, finishing second in the event with a two-day total of 5,295 that is currently the No. 9 performance in the NCAA. During the two-day event, Cardina, who holds the school record for the heptathlon long jump, 60-meters and total points, added another record to the list in the heptathlon shot put. Cardina set the record with his throw of 46'-6.25" (14.18m) erasing the old heptathlon record of 45'-10" (13.97m) set by James Cook in 1998.
Morgan Shigo propelled himself on to the NCAA scene with his performance in the weight throw. Shigo finished the meet with a mark of 66'-4.50" (20.23m) that ranks No. 3 all-time in Penn State indoor history, and is currently the No. 25 throw in the NCAA.

BREAKIN' RECORDS
 Five school records were broken on the women's side during the 2016 indoor campaign and two have been broken thus far during the 2017 indoor season.

Tessa Barrett set the 5,000-meter record (15:46.08), Rachel Fatherly set the shout put record with a throw of 56-8 (17.27m), Lexi Masterson set the pole vault record with a jump of 13-9.75 (4.21m) and Tori Gerlach set both the mile record (4:37.83), and the 1,000-meter record (2:43.15) in 2016.

On the men's side, three school records were broken during the 2016 indoor campaign. Xavier Smith ran 6.68 in the 60-meter dash, Isaiah Harris ran 1:46.24 in the 800 meter, and Brannon Kidder set both the school record and collegiate record in the 1000 meter with a time of 2:18.26.

Danae Rivers has set the school record in both the 600-meters (1:29.06) and the 800-meters (2:04.04) through two meets in 2017.

FOUR-MINUTE SUCCESS
In four of the last five years, it took a sub four-minute mile to win the men's invitational mile.

2012

Jeff See

03:56.51

2013

Brannon Kidder

03:59.48

2014

Brannon Kidder

03:59.55

2015

Robert Denault

03:58.25

2016

Robert Domanic

04:00.19

HOME SWEET HOME
 The Nittany Lions are set to welcome teams from across the nation into the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track as they host four meets during the 2017 indoor season.

TRACK & FIELD SIGNS 12 EARLY
 Twelve new student-athletes signed their National Letter of Intent during the week-long early signing period in November.

  • Madison Smith Hometown: New Oxford, Pa
  • Brooke-Lynn Williams Hometown: Norton, Mass.
  • Victoria Tachinski Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • Alison Willingmyre Hometown: Wernersville, Pa.
  • Ben Bumgarner Hometown: Waynesburg, Pa.
  • William Henderson Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
  • Jack Zimmerman Hometown: Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
  • Terrance Laird Hometown: Coatesville, Pa.
  • Thomas Bojalad Hometown: St. Mary's, Pa.
  • Alexa Parks Hometown: Kintnersville, Pa
  • Audra Koopman Hometown: Fort Collins, Co.
  • Katie Jones Hometown: South Williamsport, Pa.


These 12 student-athletes have signed a National Letter of Intent and will attend Penn State next fall.

NEXT TIME OUT
 The Nittany Lions continue their home campaign at to the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track as they compete in the two day Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup Feb. 3-4 with day one action starting at 5 p.m. Fri. Feb 3.

For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.
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