UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field program returns to the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track to host 31 teams at the National Open Jan. 25-26. Action begins Friday, Jan. 25 at 4 p.m. and continues Saturday, Jan. 26 at 10:45 a.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Both days of competition will be streamed online via FloTrack.
TEAMS COMPETING
31 teams plus Penn State will compete in the National Open. The teams are as followed: Allegheny College, Army, Ashland, Binghamton, Bucknell, Cleveland State, Coppin State, Cornell, Dickenson, Duquesne, East Carolina, Georgetown, Howard, IUP, LaSalle, Maryland, Monmouth, Norfolk State, Penn, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Rider, Saint Francis (PA), Saint Joseph's, Shippensburg, Towson, UMBC, University of Toronto, Vermont, West Virginia, and Youngstown State.
LITTLE LION LAP
Run a lap with the Nittany Lion in the annual "Little Lion Lap" on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Multi-Sport Facility. All children in grades K-5 may participate and will receive a participation ribbon.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RECOGNITION
Penn State track & field is proud to recognize the 2018 National Champions, Isaiah Harris and David Lucas, during the National Open. Fans are encouraged to stick around for this special moment at roughly 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the first week of the United States Track & Field Cross Country Association (USATFCCA) NCAA Indoor National Rating Index, the men's team is ranked No. 15 and the women's team in No. 22.
RECORD BOOK PERFORMANCES
Sophomore Will Henderson set a school record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.65 on Jan. 19 at the Simmons-Harvey Big Ten Invite. Additionally, Maddie Holmberg and Danae Rivers have each set a PSU record book performance this indoor season. Rivers set the Penn State school record and the collegiate record in the women's 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:38.58 on Jan. 12 at the Nittany Lion Challenge. Holmberg owns the No. 5 mark in school history in the women's long jump with a distance of 20-5 (6.22m).
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
Penn State returns three All-Americans from the 2018 indoor track & field season. On the men's side, David Lucas is back for his junior year after capturing the gold medal in the weight throw. For the Penn State women, both Maddie Holmberg (pentathlon) and Danae Rivers (800-meter run) finished seventh in their respective events at last year's NCAA Championships.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Penn State indoor track & field season features four home meets inside the friendly confines of the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. In addition to the Nittany Lion Challenge (Jan. 12) and the National Open (Jan. 25-26), the Nittany Lions will also host the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup (Feb. 2) and the Penn State Tune-Up (Feb. 16).
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions remain home for the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup on Saturday, Feb. 2 starting at 11 a.m.
