ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Penn State track & field program got a glimpse of the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships facility Saturday, Jan. 19, participating in the Simmons-Harvey Big Ten Invite at the U-M Indoor Track Building.
"Today's meet was a fantastic day for Penn State Track & Field," said head coach John Gondak. "We had the opportunity to preview the venue that's going to host the Big Ten Championship at the end of February and I think we had some great results. I was very proud of how the team came out and performed today. It's another step toward our quest for a Big Ten title. We return home next week for our biggest home meet of the season in the National Open and I look forward to getting back to work."
Sophomore Will Henderson got things going for the Nittany Lions with a school record time of 6.65 in the men's 60-meter dash. The time is the fastest in the conference this season and is currently tied for fifth in the nation heading into Saturday.
The school record had nothing on Will Henderson 💨💨💨
— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) January 19, 2019
Watch live coverage of the Simmons-Harvey Big Ten Invite on @BigTenNetwork now!#WeAre #PSUTF pic.twitter.com/1vP5WZ42HQ
Freshman Alexis Holmes set a conference-best time in the women's 400-meter dash as she took home the title in 54.03. The time marks the fifth-best time in the nation this season. In the men's 400-meter dash, Kier Miner finished fourth with a time of 48.36.
In the women's 60-meter dash, Brooke-Lynn Williams finished second with a personal-best time of 7.50 and Keianna Albury finished fourth with a time of 7.57.
In the women's 200-meter dash, Albury finished second with a time of 24.12 while Williams finished fifth at 24.85. In the women's 600-meter run, Antoinette Bradley made her debut in the distance as she ran to a fifth-place finish with a time of 1:33:33.
Fellow classmate Justin Ofotan made his debut in the 200-meters, winning his heat with a time of 21.61 and finishing third overall. He also finished third in the 60-meter dash with a time of personal best time of 6.79.
In the women's mile, Moria O'Shea ran a personal-best time of 4:56.13 to finish ninth.
In the men's distance races, Timothy McGowan clocked in at 4:08.20 to finish second in the men's mile while Owen Wing finished fifth at 4:09.95. Brandon Hontz finished fourth in the 3,000 meters with a personal best time of 8:20.02.
In the men's long jump, the Nittany Lions finished two-three with season-best marks from both athletes. Henderson placed second with a distance of 23-10 (7.26m), while Bryce Williams rounded out the podium recording a mark of 23-3.25 (7.09m). On the women's side, Maddie Holmberg finished second with a mark of 19-6.75 (5.96m) and Audra Koopman placed sixth with a distance of 18-7.75 (5.68m).
Three Nittany Lions finished ninth or better in the women's triple jump, led by Kelsey Vieira with a distance of 39-0.25 (11.89m), followed by freshman Rachel Gearing finishing seventh with a personal best of 38-11.75 (11.88m). Olivia Giambra took eighth at 37-8 (11.48m).
In the men's triple jump, Bryce Williams earned a runner-up finish with a distance of 49-9 (15.16m).
In the women's 800-meter run, Victoria Tachinski ran a season best time of 2:10.54. On the men's side, Gary Ross led the Nittany Lions with a second-place finish with a time of 1:52.42. Also in the men's 800-meter run, freshman Drew Maher made his debut to place third in 1:52.57, while William Ashenfelter clocked in with a personal-best of 1:53.40 to take seventh.
In the men's high jump, Devin Bradham placed fourth with a season-best height of 6-10.75 (2.10m). On the women's side, Alexa Parks finished second with a height of 5-7 (1.70m).
Megan Fry (13-0.75/3.98m) and Carena Nottoli (12-6.75/3.83m) finished third and fourth, respectively, with personal-best performances in the women's pole vault.
In the women's throws, freshman Gianna Rao set a personal-best toss of 60-9.5 (18.53m) in the weight throw to place sixth and fellow classmate Payden Montana finished third in the shot put with a mark of 50-4.75 (15.36m).
Three Nittany Lions finished in the top-10 in the men's shot put, led by Luke Grodeska's seventh-place mark of 54-9.5 (16.70m) followed by Jack Zimmerman (eighth, 54-4.75/16.58m) and Thomas Bojalad (ninth, 53-5.75/16.3m). Morgan Shigo recorded a runner-up finish in the men's weight throw with a mark of 67-11.5 (20.71m).
Up next the Nittany Lions return to University Park and the Multi-Sport Indoor Facility for the 2019 National Open. Action begins Friday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. and then the meet continues on Saturday, Jan. 26 starting at 11:15 a.m.