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Five School Records Fall on Opening Day of Virginia Challenge

April 21, 2017

Results

Charlottesville, VA - On the opening day of the Virginia Challenge, the Nittany Lions made a statement with five school records over the course of two hours Friday night at Lannigan Field.

Overall, Penn State set 23 personal best marks on the night and shattered five school records within a two hour period, two of which were from the 1970's.

"An absolutely phenomenal first day at the Virginia challenge," said head coach John Gondak.

"It was all across the board, the 4x100's winning on both the men's and women's side, setting school records in the 800's this evening to close the meet out, to some great performances in the field. It was the type of day I was looking for from the team this weekend," said Gondak.

"The men's 4x100, as well as Morgan Shigo in the hammer throw, broke records from the 1970's which speaks to the caliber of the school record marks both old and new. Lexi Masterson added on to her school record as well clearing 13'-4.5". We had a really good start to the season, but with championships looming I told the team `it was time to step up and take your performances to the next level' and they did that tonight. I'm really proud of everything we did so far today and we have a lot of great things on tap for day-two tomorrow," Gondak continued.

Morgan Shigo took the final step left on the performance list by claiming the school record in the hammer throw Friday night with his throw of 221'-0" (67.36m) finishing fourth in the event. Shigo is now the only Nittany Lion to throw beyond the 220' mark in program history in the hammer throw erasing the mark of 218'-6" (66.60m) set by Alvin Jackson back in 1976.

Lexi Masterson, the school record holder in pole vault both indoors and outdoors, added a few more inches to her program mark clearing 13-4.5" (4.08m) finishing second in the women's pole vault. The senior eclipsed her old mark of 13'-3.5" (4.05m) from 2014 on her sixth vault of the night.

Alyssa Robinson finished second in the women's hammer throw with her toss of 187'-6" (57.15m), recording the day's best throw on her second attempt. Robinson's mark is a new personal best.

Obeng Marfo finished seventh in the hammer throw with her best of 169'-7" (51.70m) and returned to finish fifth in the discus at 158'-6" (48.31m).

The duo of Kory Decesaris and David Lucas collected fourth and sixth-place finishes with their marks of 195'-0" (59.45m) and 179'-2" (54.62m), respectively, in the men's hammer throw.

Kaitlyn Lopez took the event title in the women's triple jump with her mark of 42'-9.50" (13.04m) - a new personal best - as her final jump of the competition proved to be the difference maker for the senior from Buffalo, N.Y. Lopez's mark sits as the No. 5 all-time in program history.

Freshman Kelsey Vieira posted a new personal best finishing seventh in the women's triple jump at 39'-9.75" (12.13m).

In the women's triple jump (Invite), Dannielle Gibson finished fourth with a season best of 43'-4.25" (13.21m).

Pat Anderson posted a top-five finish in the pole vault with a best bar of 15`-6.25"(4.73m), good for fourth-place.

The Penn State men's 4x100-meter relay had been flirting with the school record the entire year after opening the season just two one-hundredths (.02) of a second off the program pace at the PAC-12/Big Ten Challenge in Tempe, Ariz.

Tonight the record fell as the men's relay of Malik Moffett, Xavier Smith, Dan Chisena and Karson Kowalchuk combined to run 39.49, not only erasing the old mark but eviscerating it by finishing .14 seconds faster than the old school record of 39.63 set by Jack Davis, Steve Hackman, Mike Shine and Mike Sands back in 1975. Penn State finished first in the event in a new meet record time followed by NC State more than three-tenths of a second behind in second-place.

The women's 4x100-meter relay, not to be out done, replicated the first-place finish with a time of 45.19, a season best for the Nittany Lion relay.

The women's 100-meters featured two top-ten finishes in the event as Keianna Albury (11.72) and Quenee Dale (11.86) grabbed seventh and ninth-place, respectively. Dale's time is a new personal best.

Xavier Smith and Malik Moffett blazed the track to finish with the No. 2 and No. 3 marks in program history in the 100-meters. Smith rolled to the tune of 10.38 while Moffett finished a step behind at 10.42. Both marks were wind legal and are new personal bests.

Also posting personal best on the day in the 100-meters were Karson Kowalchuk (10.57) and Anton Porter (10.67).

Samuel Reiser made his season debut in the 400-meters finishing eight in 48.76 seconds, while freshman Tyreek Mathis finished second in the event running 47.97.

Tichina Rhodes ran a season best of 55.22 in the 400-meters finishing ninth.

Danae Rivers demolished the school record in the women's 800-meters with her time of 2:02.53, erasing the old mark of 2:03.09 set by Rebekka Simko back in 2012, finishing second in the event trailing only Virginia Tech's Hanna Green (2:02.17). Rivers now owns both the indoor and outdoor 800-meter records in only her freshman campaign and has now been involved in five school records combined.

Rachel Banks finished one one-hundredth of a second off her personal best from indoors (2:06.99) posting a time of 2:07.00 that is the No. 9 time in program history.

Isaiah Harris asserted himself as the best half-miler in school history as the sophomore All-American crossed the line in 1:45.12 to win the race and set the school record. The three-time reigning Big Ten Champion in the event spilt 52.57 on the opening lap and followed it up with an almost even 52.56 to close over the final 400-meters outlasting Florida's Andres Arroyo who ran 1:45.75 for second. Harris erased the old school record of 1:45.28 set by Casimir Loxsom in 2011.

Harris was followed by teammate Domenic Perretta who ran a personal best of 1:47.29 that is the No. 10 time in program history.

Madeline Holmberg put together a solid day one in the heptathlon sitting in first-place through four events with a total score of 3,460 points.

The sophomore from Greensburg, Pa., by way of Hempfield Area, went 4-for-4 in personal best on the day posting marks of 14.01 in the 100-meter hurdles, 23.94 in the 200-meters, 5'-4.50" (1.64m) in the high jump and 42'-0" (12.80m) in the shot put. Holmberg holds a 109-point lead heading into day two where she will compete in the long jump, javelin throw and cap the event with the 800-meters.

Luke Rarig finished day one of the men's decathlon with total of 3,415 points through five events. Rarig turned in marks of 11.23 seconds, 52.70 in the 400-meters, 22-3.75" (6.80m) in the long jump, 36'-9.50" (11.21m) in the shot put and 5'-8.75" (1.75m) in the high jump. Rarig will finish the second half of the decathlon with the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500-meters to cap the competition.

Penn State returns to action tomorrow morning as the Nittany Lions open day two at the Virginia Challenge as well as competing at the Bucknell team Challenge in Lewisburg, Pa.

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

ATHLETES WITH COLLEGIATE OUTDOOR PERSONAL BEST MARKS

Hammer Throw

  • Morgan Shigo - 221'-0" (67.36m) [School Record]
  • Alyssa Robinson - 187'-6" (57.15m)

Triple Jump

  • Kaitlyn Lopez - 42'-9.50" (13.04m)
  • Kelsey Vieira - 39'-9.75" (12.13m)

Pole Vault

  • Lexi Masterson - 13'-4.5" (4.08m) [School Record]

High Jump

  • Madeline Holmberg - 5'-4.50" (1.64m)

Shot Put

  • Madeline Holmberg - 42'-0" (12.80m)

100-meters

100-meter hurdles

  • Madeline Holmberg - 14.01

200-meters

  • Madeline Holmberg - 23.94

800-meters

  • Isaiah Harris - 1:45.12 [School Record]
  • Domenic Perretta - 1:47.29
  • Jaxson Hoey - 1:53.33
  • Danae Rivers - 2:02.53 [School Record]
  • Julie Kocjancic - 2:07.76
  • Frances Bull - 2:08.06

3000-meter steeple

  • Greta Lindsley - 10:48.58