May 12, 2018
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Junior Maddie Holmberg (Greensburg, Pa.) set the school record in the heptathlon en route to a silver medal at the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex.
"It feels really good," Holmberg said on her heptathlon competition. "I always say, 'You make history or you become history' and I made history today. It is really cool because Gayle Hunter the previous school record holder was just a stud, a phenomenal athlete and went on to do really great things and I am hoping that I can follow in her footsteps."
Holmberg opened the second, and final, day of the heptathlon in the long jump with her distance of 20 feet, 10.75 inches for 965 points. Her mark of 20-10.75 ties the No. 3 performance in school history. She then followed up her personal-best leap with a personal-best toss of 142-2 in the javelin throw for 732 points.
The heptathlon ended with Holmberg running 2:20.55 in the 800-meter run for 816 points. With all seven events in the books, Holmberg garnered a silver medal with a Penn State school-record score of 5,976 points.
The previous school record of 5,797 in the heptathlon was set by Gayle Hunter at the 2009 NCAA Championships.
After finishing the heptathlon earlier in the afternoon, Holmberg then competed in the women's long jump and placed eighth with her mark of 20-1.75. In the men's long jump, Malik Moffett (Erie, Pa.) took fourth with his distance of 24-7.
The women's high jump saw senior Megan McCloskey (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) post a fourth-place finish with her season-best height of 5-10.5.
Also in the field, senior Jon Yohman (New Wilmington, Pa.) recorded a season-best mark of 60-2.5 to place eighth in the men's shot put.
The trials of the men's 100-meter dash featured three Nittany Lions advancing to the final by either setting or tying personal-best performances. In the first heat, freshman Will Henderson (Baltimore, Md.) tied the No. 9 time in school history (10.49) to place second in the heat and auto qualify. Moffett turned in the No. 3 performance all-time at Penn State with his wind-legal personal-best time of 10.37 to finish second in the second heat. Senior Xavier Smith (Douglassville, Pa.) tied his wind-legal school-record time of 10.32 to win the third heat and auto qualify.
Quenee Dale (Ypsilanti, Mich.) ran a personal-best time of 13.57 to advance on time to the final of the women's 100-meter hurdles. Her time of 13.57 on Saturday improves her No. 6 spot in program history.
In the trials of the women's 800-meter run, sophomore Danae Rivers (Derby, Conn.) finished first in the fourth heat with a time of 2:07.07 to auto qualify to the final.
A trio of Nittany Lions advanced to the final of the men's 800-meter run. Penn State saw Isaiah Harris (Lewiston, Maine) auto qualify with a first-place finish in the fourth heat (1:51.03). Along with Harris, Jordan Makins (Perth, Australia) and Gary Ross III (Fort Washington, Md.) advanced on time. Makins clocked in at 1:48.80 and Ross III finished the race in a personal-best time of 1:50.03.
With seven events scored for the men, Penn State ranks second with 30 points. With nine events scored for the women, Penn State ranks sixth with 32 points.
The final day of the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships gets underway at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 13.