UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – All-American Danae Rivers opened up her junior year on the track in style as she ran to the collegiate record in the women's 1,000-meter run Saturday at the Nittany Lion Challenge inside the Multi-Sport Indoor Facility.
A school record holder in numerous events already, Rivers added her name to the Penn State record book once again as she finished the women's 1,000-meter run with a school record and collegiate record time of 2:38.58. Heading into Saturday, the previous record of 2:40.79 was held by Kaela Edwards of Oklahoma State set on Jan. 13, 2017.
Danae Rivers sets the collegiate record in the women's 1,000-meter run with her time of 2:38.58! The previous record was 2:40.79 set in 2017.@NCAATrackField @USTFCCCA @FloTrack#WeAre #PSUTF pic.twitter.com/Czluyei7t5
— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) January 12, 2019
This isn't the first time a 1,000-meter collegiate record fell at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track as Nittany Lion alumnus Brannon Kidder set the men's 1,000-meter run collegiate record of 2:18.26 on Jan. 16, 2016.
"I have been waiting for this day for a long time," head coach John Gondak said. "I've watched this team practice for so long and I've seen a lot of individuals take their training to another level, their fitness, their approach, their mentality. It's something I was really excited to see and today it really played out. I think most everyone that had a season-opener had their best season-opener that they ever had. I told the team I think that this might be the best first meet in January with the full team competing that I have ever seen. I am really happy for what they did today and I am excited for the weeks to come."
Along with Rivers' personal-best performance in the women's 1,000-meter run, numerous Nittany Lions also tallied personal-best outings Saturday.
In the women's long jump, Maddie Holmberg improved her PSU record book performance from the Bison Opener last month. On Saturday, Holmberg captured the event title with a mark of 20-5 (6.22m), which is the fifth-best mark all-time at PSU.
Along with Holmberg in the women's long jump, Breana Gambrell took third with a distance of 19-8 (5.99m) and Audra Koopman tied for fourth with a leap of 18-8 (5.69m).
The women's high jump saw Alexa Parks finish first with a personal-best height of 5-8.5 (1.74m). Along with Parks, Alyssa Yeboah-Kodie recorded a fifth-place finish with a height of 5-5 (1.65m). On the men's side, Devin Bradham placed third with a height of 6-9 (2.06m) and Spencer Hay finished fifth with a mark of 6-7 (2.01m).
In the women's throws, Payden Montana placed second (51-0.75/15.56m) and Holmberg finished fourth (45-11.75/14.01m) in the shot put, while Gianna Rao recorded a runner-up finish in the weight throw (60-6/18.44m).
Carena Nottoli and Greer Gumbrecht both cleared a height of 11-11.75 (3.65m) in the women's pole vault to finish second and third, respectively. Megan Fry also recorded a top-five finish in the women's pole vault as she tied for fourth with a height of 11-5.75 (3.50m).
Three Nittany Lions finished in the top-five in the women's triple jump, while Bryce Williams won the men's triple jump title with a mark of 50-10.75 (15.51m). For the Nittany Lion women in the triple jump, Kelsey Vieira placed second (39-2.5/11.95m), Gambrell took third (38-9.75/11.83m) and Olivia Giambra finished fourth (37-8.75/11.50m).
Four Nittany Lions placed in the top-five in the men's shot put and a pair of Nittany Lions recorded top-five finishes in the men's weight throw. In the men's shot put, Luke Grodeska led the charge with a second-place finish (55-9/16.99m) followed by Tom Bojalad (third – 54-6.75/16.63m), Jack Zimmerman (fourth – 54-2.75/16.53m) and Ben Peterson (fifth – 53-9/16.38m). Grodeska (third – 56-5.75/17.21m) and Peterson (fifth – 54-0/16.46m) also finished in the top-five in the men's weight throw.
Jordan Williams ran to a personal-best time of 4:55.70 in the women's mile to finish third and in the men's mile, Tim McGowan and Brandon Hontz finished fourth (4:09.16) and fifth (4:09.98), respectively.
In the women's 600-meter run, Victoria Tachinski finished first in 1:30.79, while Frances Bull took third in 1:35.09, while on the men's side, Gary Ross placed runner-up in 1:17.83.
Penn State swept the 60-meter hurdle titles with a personal-best time of 7.93 from Will Henderson and a time of 8.61 from Holmberg. Along with his 60-meter hurdle title, Henderson finished third in the men's long jump with a distance of 23-6.75 (7.18m).
The 60-meter dashes saw personal-bests from both Nittany Lion men and women. On the men's side, Anton Porter took third in a personal-best time of 6.85 and Brooke-Lynn Williams placed second in a personal-best time of 7.51. Also in the women's 60-meter dash, Keianna Albury finished fourth in 7.61.
At the 400-meter dash level, Samuel Reiser finished fourth in 49.21 for the PSU men and Antoinette Bradley placed second in a time of 56.81 in the women's race.
In her Nittany Lion debut, freshman Alexis Holmes won the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.87. Along with Holmes, Kiara Lester crossed the finish line in 24.67 to place third. On the men's side, Kier Miner took second in 22.06.
In the men's 4x800-meter relay, Drew Maher, Hudson Delisle, Ben Bulkeley and William Ashenfelter ran to a second-place finish with their time of 7:48.79.
For the Niittany Lion men mid-distance/distance runners, Domenic Perretta clocked in at 2:22.20 to place second in the men's 1,000-meter run and Ben Bumgarner ran to a fourth-place finish in the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:18.67.
The afternoon was capped off with Penn State winning both 4x400-meter relays. On the men's side, Miner, Reiser, Ross and Rick Zink combined for a time of 3:13.86, while the women's race saw a Big Ten-leading time of 3:40.85 from the quartet of Holmes, Lester, Tachinski and Rivers.
Penn State travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the Simmons-Harvey Invite hosted by the University of Michigan on Jan. 19. The meet begins at 10 a.m. and will be aired live on the Big Ten Network from noon to 3:30 p.m.