ANN ARBOR, Mich. â 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.
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â Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) January 19, 2019
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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.