April 7, 2018
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Penn State track & field team competed in a scored meet against Iowa, LSU, and Purdue at the Battle on the Bayou on Saturday at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium with the Nittany Lions winning nine event titles.
"It was another weekend in the books for Penn State track & field," head coach John Gondak said. "The trip down to LSU for the Battle on the Bayou had some outstanding performances across all events. This weekend we won nine events between the men and the women. We had a feeling to try and make a run to win on the men's side and we did. It was a good rallying point as move towards championship time."
The Nittany Lions got the day going with wins in both 3,000-meter steeplechases. On the men's side, freshman James Abrahams (Havertown, Pa) ran 9:18.02, while Lisa Bennatan (Lake Forest, Ill.) clocked in at 10:35.68 for the PSU women.
In the women's javelin, freshman Madison Smith (New Oxford, Pa.) took the event title with the eighth-best throw (164-1) in the Penn State record books. Along with Smith, Stephanie Sievers (Douglassville, Pa.) placed second (153-5).
In the women's short sprints, Keianna Albury (Eleuthera, Bahamas) tallied a pair of top-10 finishes. On the day for her, Albury ran a season-best 11.73 in the 100-meter dash to place eighth and she took ninth in the 200-meter dash with a season-best 24.08.
The women's 800-meter run saw three Nittany Lions tally top-five finishes. In the race, Danae Rivers (Derby, Conn.) crossed the finish line first at 2:05.85. Along with Rivers, the duo of Frances Bull (Mentor, Ohio) and Victoria Tachinski (Winnipeg, Manitoba) finished back-to-back in fourth and fifth at 2:10.76 and 2:11.40, respectively.
Senior Quenee Dale (Ypsilanti, Mich.) clocked in just shy of her personal best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.64 to place sixth.
In the women's jumps, Megan McCloskey (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) took third in the high jump (5-8.75), Maddie Holmberg (Greensburg, Pa.) placed fourth in the long jump (20-5.25), and Kelsey Vieira (Hillsborough, N.J.) finished second in the triple jump (39-7.75).
The women's pole vault featured the quartet four Nittany Lions finishing second through five. For Penn State in women's pole vault, Hannah Mulhern (Altoona, Pa.) took second (12-11.5), while Katie Jones (Williamsport, Pa.), Greer Gumbrecht (Easton, Pa.), Lexi Masterson (Jeannette, Pa.) all cleared 12-5.5 to finish 3-4-5, respectively.
School record-holder in the men's 100-meter dash Xavier Smith (Douglassville, Pa.) clocked in with a season-best time of 10.45 to finish third. Smith also added a third-place finish in the men's 200-meter dash as he tied his personal-best time of 20.96, which is tied for No. 7 all-time at PSU.
Freshman Owen Wing (State College, Pa.) brought home a pair of event titles at the Battle on the Bayou in the men's 1,500-meter run and the 5,000-meter run. In the 1,500-meter run, Wing crossed the finish line in 3:49.77 and in the 5,000-meter run, he clocked in at 15:53.49.
Also on the track for the PSU men, junior Billy McDevitt (Newtown Square, Pa.) placed second in the men's 800-meter run (1:51.67).
The quartet of William Henderson (Baltimore, Md.), Terrance Laird (Coatesville, Pa.), Smith, Moffett (Erie, Pa.) ran the No. 5 time in school history in the men's 4x100-meter relay with their time of 39.91 to place second.
The duo of Austin Campbell (Denver, Colorado) and Devin Bradham (Williamstown, N.J.) finished first and third in the men's high jump as they both cleared 6-9.
Junior Bryce Williams (State College, Pa.) tallied another victory on the day for the Nittany Lions with his distance of 50-2 in the men's triple jump.
Moffett went 23-11 in his first long jump of the season to finish second.
In the men's throws, Michael Biddle (Williamsburg, Pa.) took the top spot in the javelin (228-9), Morgan Shigo (Blandon, Pa.) took third in the hammer throw (216-5), and David Lucas (Lititz, Pa.) placed third in the discus (185-5).
In the team standings, the No. 17 Penn State men took home the team title, while the Penn State women finished fourth.
Penn State track & field returns to Central Pennsylvania to compete at the Bucknell Classic hosted by Bucknell University, April 14-15. The meet will take place at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.