March 9, 2017
Gillam Indoor Stadium
College Station, Texas
Host: Texas A&M University
Friday, March 10
6:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 11
5:00 p.m. ET
Meet Info | Live Results
ESPN3 Links: Friday | Saturday
MEET PREVIEW
| Athletes Competing | |
| Rachel Banks | Tessa Barrett |
| Dan Chisena | Dannielle Gibson |
| Isaiah Harris | Julie Kocjancic |
| Malik Moffett | Samuel Reiser |
| Tichina Rhodes | Danae Rivers |
| Xavier Smith | |
NCAA Indoor Post-Season Guide
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Eleven Nittany Lions will represent Penn State track & field this week as they travel to the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, Mar. 10-11 at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium in College Station, Texas on the campus of Texas A&M University. The meet will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDS
Dan Chisena, Isaiah Harris, Malik Moffett, Samuel Reiser and Xavier Smith will be representing the Nittany Lion men, while Rachel Banks, Tessa Barrett, Dannielle Gibson, Julie Kocjancic, Tichina Rhodes and Danae Rivers will compete for the Penn State women.
Four Nittany Lions will be making their return to the NCAA Indoor Championship meet, while Banks, Chisena, Kocjancic, Moffett, Reiser, Rivers and Smith will be making their NCAA Indoor Championships debut.
SEEDS (Based on their regular season performances)
Barrett - 1st (5,000-meters) | 16th (3,000-meters)
Rivers - 3rd (Mile)
Men's 4x400-meter - 4th (Chisena, Smith, Reiser, Harris)
Harris - 7th (800-meters)
Women's DMR - 10th (Kocjancic, Rhodes, Banks, Rivers)
Gibson - 12th (Triple Jump)
Moffett - 14th (200-meters)
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
Isaiah Harris, Tessa Barrett, and Tichina Rhodes enter the meet having previously earned first-team All-American honors during cross country, indoor track & field or outdoor track & field.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
On the track, Tessa Barrett enters the meet ranked No. 1in the 5,000-meters (15:28.99) while also sitting 16th in the 3,000-meters with her school record time of 9:07.22. Barrett reÂcorded her 5K time in a second-place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, while her 3K time was set at the Penn State National Open that was broadcast LIVE on FloTrack.com.
Rivers punched her ticket to the championships with a historic run in the mile at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash. The true freshman recorded a school record time of 4:32.55 that is currently No. 3 in the NCAA and sits just outside the Top-10 all-time in the event. Rivers also set school records in the 600-meters, 800-meters and as a member of the DMR that will run at these NCAA Championships.
Isaiah Harris enters the indoor meet ranked No. 7 in the 800-meters, an event that saw Harris capture three-straight Big Ten titles as well as the school record in the event with a best of 1:46.24. Harris earned All-American honors last year during outdoor season as he advanced to the Olympic Trials where he finished in sixth as a true freshman.
Dannielle Gibson returns to the NCAA meet for the third-time following appearances last year during indoor and outdoor where she recorded Second-Team All-American finishes in the triple jump. Gibson enters the meet ranked T-12th with her season best and Penn State No. 2 indoor mark of 43'-9" (13.33m) that she set at the Nittany Lion Challenge.
Malik Moffett will make his NCAA Indoor Championships debut in the 200-meters entering the meet with the No. 17 time in the event for the junior from Erie, Pa. Moffett set the school record in the 200-meters en route to the bronze medal at the Big Ten Indoor Championships running 20.76 seconds in Geneva, Ohio.
The men's 4x400-meter relay is ranked fourth in the nation with the quartet of Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Samuel Reiser and Isaiah Harris laying down the school record time of 3:04.80 capturing the Big Ten Indoor title along the way as Harris powered by Iowa in the final meters of the race.
The women's Distance Medley Relay is ranked 10th in the nation with the squad of Julie Kocjancic, Tichina Rhodes, Rachel Banks and Danae Rivers entering the meet with a school record time of 11:01.16 and having captured the Big Ten Indoor title just a few weeks ago.
USTFCCCA HONORS
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its regional awards with Penn State receiving five award winners - tied with Arkansas for the most in the nation.
Third-year head coach John Gondak continues to see the accolades roll in as he was named the Mid-Atlantic Women's Head Coach of the Year, while second-year Associate head coach Erin Tucker and Assistant Coach Angela Reckart earned Mid-Atlantic Men's and Women's Assistant Coach of the Year honors, respectively.
Most recently, Gondak led the women's track & field team to its fourth Big Ten indoor title in program history. Penn State's four indoor championships since 2004 are the most of any school in the Big Ten conference, with Minnesota and Ohio State in second having won three.
Erin Tucker was instrumental in leading the Penn State men's team to their highest finish in program history at the Big Ten Indoor Championships as the Nittany Lions finished second at the Big Ten Indoor meet. His 4Ã-400-meter relay team set the All-Time Big Ten Conference record at 3:04.80, while Xavier Smith the Big Ten 60-meter Big Ten Champion and Malik Moffett a bronze medalist in the 200-meters at Big Ten Championship were a part of the 33 points scored by Tucker's athletes.
Angela Reckart was just as big a part of the success for the women's team as Tucker was for the men. Reckart coached the distance group to a combined 32-points including a silver medal and the No. 2 time in the NCAA by Penn State's Tessa Barrett running a school record time of 15:28.99 in the 5,000-meters.
Bryce Williams and Danae Rivers both earned USTFCCCA awards as Williams was the Mid-Atlantic Men's Field Athlete of the Year and Rivers was named the Mid-Atlantic Women's Track Athlete of the Year.
Williams wrapped up a season that saw him return from missing the entire 2016 year with an ACL injury by earning a silver medal in the triple jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Geneva, Ohio.
The junior from State College finished the 2017 indoor season with a best of 51'-8.25" (15.75m) that ranked No. 24 in the NCAA.
Rivers, the freshman phenom, will participate in her first NCAA Indoor Championships this coming week in College Station, Texas where she will run the Mile and as a member of the women's Distance Medley Relay.
PENN STATE COMPETITION SCHEDULE
FRIDAY-
6:30 p.m. ET - Mile Semifinal (Rivers)
8:20 p.m. ET - 800-meters Semifinal (Harris)
8:45 p.m. ET - 200-meters (Moffett)
9:00 p.m. ET - 5,000-meter FINAL (Barrett)
9:55 p.m. ET - DMR FINAL (Kocjancic, Rhodes, Banks, Rivers)
SATURDAY -
4:30 p.m. ET - Women's Triple Jump FINAL (Gibson)
5:00 p.m. ET - Mile (Qualifiers)
6:30 p.m. ET - 800-meters FINAL (Qualifiers)
6:50 p.m. ET - 200-meters FINAL (Qualifiers)
7:00 p.m. ET - 3,000-meter FINAL (Barrett)
7:45 p.m. ET - 4x400-meter relay FINAL (Chisena, Smith, Reiser, Harris)
NCAA Track & Field On ESPN3
ESPN has exclusive broadcast rights for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. The following broadcast schedule (all times Eastern) outlines all live and rebroadcasts for the 2017 NCAA InÂdoor Track & Field Championships:
Friday, March 10..........................6:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, March 11......................5:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Sunday, March 12........................7 p.m. (ESPN2 | Tape Delay)
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.