April 20, 2018
Virginia Challenge Day One Results
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Penn State track & field team saw four Nittany Lions record top-10 performances in program history on Friday at the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field.
Junior Morgan Shigo (Blandon, Pa.) picked up where he left off last weekend in the men's hammer throw. Last weekend in California, Shigo topped his own school record in the event twice. Today, Shigo bested his own school record in the event three times.
"Last week was a huge confidence boost for me and it showed me where I had to make some adjustments," Shigo said. "Coach MacKay and I made some technical changes this week and had a good feeling about today. Competing against two Olympians definitely amps up the competition and I'm glad I took advantage of it. Seventy meters has been my goal all year and to hit it three times today is something I didn't think I would do. It's always exciting to see the work you put in all season finally come to fruition."
Heading into last weekend, Shigo held the PSU school record at 222-11 and he extended that mark to 225-7 in California before tallying a throw of 232-11 on Friday.
On Friday, Shigo went 226-0 on his second attempt before posting a throw of 231-0 on this third attempt. On his sixth, and final, attempt, Shigo went 232-11 to take the top spot in the standings until Hilmar Orn Jonsson of Virginia went 233-3 on his final attempt to capture the event title.
Along with Shigo in the invite section of the men's hammer throw, David Lucas (Lititz, Pa.) tallied a season-best outing of 195-9 to place seventh.
Earlier in the day, the open section of the men's hammer throw saw freshman Luke Grodeska (Neptune, N.J.) capture a first-place finish with the No. 10 throw in program history (195-5).
Greta Lindsley (Lancaster, Pa.) improved her ranking in the Penn State record books in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lindsley went on to finish third in the race with her time of 10:11.29, which moved her from eighth to fifth all-time at PSU.
In the invite section of the women's pole vault, freshman Katie Jones (Williamsport, Pa.) moved from No. 3 all-time at PSU to No. 2 with her height of 13-5.75. In the women's pole vault standings, Jones went on to finish fourth.
The women's javelin throw saw the Nittany Lions finish 1-2 behind Steph Sievers (Douglassville, Pa.) throwing 159-0 and Madison Smith (New Oxford, Pa.) going 157-11.
In the invite section of the men's shot put, the duo of Jon Yohman (New Wilmington, Pa.) and Ben Peterson (Solon, Ohio) finished fifth (58-6.75) and sixth (56-8.50), respectively.
On the track, the Nittany Lions captured first-place finishes behind season-best times in the invite sections of the 800-meters.
On the women's side, Danae Rivers (Derby, Conn.) ran 2:03.78, while Isaiah Harris (Lewiston, Maine) clocked in at 1:47.66 for the PSU men. Heading into the weekend, Rivers' time would rank fifth, while Harris' time would rank seventh among collegiate runners this outdoor season.
Junior Maddie Holmberg (Greensburg, Pa.) heads into Saturday in first in the heptathlon with 3,363 points.
Holmberg opened up the heptathlon with a time of 14.33 in the 100-meter hurdles, followed by a height of 5-1.25 in the high jump. Holmberg closed out the day throwing a Penn State heptathlon shot put record distance of 44-8.25 and then running a personal-best 24.08 in the 200-meter dash.
In the 100-meter dash, Kieanna Albury (Eleuthera, Bahamas) captured the women's title with a season-best time of 11.59, while Anton Porter (Bronx, N.Y.) tied his personal-best time of 10.67 to finish third in the men's race.
Along with Albury, Kiara Lester (Wenonah, N.J.) and Quenee Dale (Ypsilanti, Mich.) finished fourth (12.01) and fifth (12.06), respectively.
The women's 4x100-meter relay of Brooke-Lynn Williams (Norton, Mass.), Albury, Dale, and Lester ran a season-best time of 45.18 to place second.
Penn State will compete at the Bucknell Team Challenge and Virginia Challenge on Saturday, April 21.