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Nittany Lions Finish Strong on Final Day of NCAA First-Rounds

May 28, 2017

RESULTS

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Penn State added nine athletes to the list of 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday bringing their total to 21 on the final day of the NCAA East First-Rounds hosted by the University of Kentucky.

Bryce Williams was the first Nittany Lion to punch his ticket on the final day, posting a personal best mark in the process. The State College, Pa. native used his second jump of the competition to secure his ticket to Eugene with a mark of 52'-2" (15.90m) surpassing his mark of 52'-0" (15.85m)w from Penn Relays. Williams' appearance at the NCAA meet makes the fourth-consecutive year that a triple jumper from Penn State will grace the runway following Brian Leap (2016) and back-to-back appearances by Steve Waithe (2014, 2015).

The next set of tickets would come from the men's 4x100-meter relay who grabbed an Auto-Q to the championships. The quartet of Karson Kowalchuk, Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith and Malik Moffett destroyed their school record mark of 39.48 running a new school record pace of 39.08 seconds winning their heat to automatically qualify for the NCAA meet in Eugene. This is the first time a Nittany Lion sprint relay will compete for a national championship since 1973 when the 440-yard relay of Doug Finkel, Mike Sands, Jim Scott and Fred Singleton finished with All-American honors in a sixth-place finish.

Dannielle Gibson will make a return to Eugene after punching her ticket to the championships in the triple-jump. Gibson, a 2017 NCAA First-Team All-American in the triple jump, will make her second trip to the outdoor championships following an 11th-place at the 2016 championships. Gibson's mark of 43'-5" (13.23m) on her opening jump of the competition secured her ticket to the west coast, finishing with the eighth-best mark of the day.

The Big Ten champion at 200-meters will take his talents to Eugene in the event after grabbing the final spot in the event Saturday night. Moffett recorded a time of 20.49 seconds in the event advancing to Eugene on time besting the next closest competitor by four one-hundredths of a second (.04) running 20.484 over Alabama State's Josh Davis who ran 20.488 finishing 13th. This is the third ticket to Moffett who will compete in the 4x100-meter relay, 200-meters and the long jump in Track Town.

David Lucas will return to the NCAA Championships in his signature event, the discus, following a ninth-place finish. Lucas posted a mark of 186'-3" (56.78m) on his opening throw of the competition to secure his return to Oregon. Lucas finished as a Second-Team All-American last season at the 2016 Outdoor Track & Field Championships finishing 15th.

The women's shot put featured a first time qualifier to the NCAA meet in Obeng Marfo who earned the right to compete for a national championship after finishing in the top-12 of the event. Marfo finished the competition with a best of 53'-7.50" (16.34m) from her second-attempt to qualify for her first national championship meet in her career.

The two-time All-American Tessa Barrett will look to avenge her showing at last year's NCAA meet after qualifying for this years meet in the same event, the 5,000-meters. Barrett led the semifinal in Lexington from wire-to-wire punching her ticket with an Auto-Q finish running a time of 16:01.59 - the best time in the East Preliminary and the No. 5 time in program history.

The men's 4x400-meter relay punched their ticket to make it 2-for-2 on the year in NCAA meet appearances in the event. The relay of Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Tyreek Mathis and Isaiah Harris ran the No. 2 time in program history (3:03.48) en route to qualifying for Eugene. The Nittany Lions had the second fastest time in the East Preliminary trailing only Auburn at 3:02.91.

Penn State had a few other performances of note on the final day of the First-Rounds including:

Alyssa Robinson - Shot Put - 52'-6.75" (16.02m)
Kaitlyn Lopez - Triple Jump - 42'-1.25" (12.83m)
Women's 4x100-meter relay - 44.77 *season best*
Keianna Albury - 200-meters - 23.80
Tim McGowan - 5,000-meters - 14:23.72
Women's 4x400-meter relay - 3:40.22

The Penn State track & field program will travel to Eugene, Ore. for the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships June 7-10.

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