UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field program remains home in the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track to host the Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup Saturday, Feb. 2. Action gets underway at 11 a.m.
TEAMS COMPETING
Penn State will welcome eight teams for the 2019 Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup including Binghamton, Cornell, James Madison, Princeton, PSU Brandywine, Shippensburg, UMBC, and William & Mary.
SENIOR DAY
The following 24 seniors will be recognized for their accomplishments at approximately 3:30 p.m. Saturday: Colin Abert, Brady Bobbitt, Devin Bradham, Billy McDevitt, John McGowan, Timothy McGowan, Matt Nawrocki, Anton Porter, Samuel Reiser, Morgan Shigo, Bryce Williams, Keianna Albury, Frances Bull, Rosemary Campbell, Elizabeth Chikotas, Lauren Costa, Olivia Giambra, Tess Kearns, Noemie Noullet, Nicole O'Donnell, Marissa Sheva, Steph Sievers, Elyse Skerpon, and Grace Trucilla.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the second week of the United States Track & Field Cross Country Association (USATFCCA) NCAA Indoor National Rating Index, the men's team is ranked No. 21 and the women's team is No. 17.
RECORD BOOK PERFORMANCES
The Nittany Lions have not been short of record achievements so far in the 2019 indoor track & field season. Last weekend at the Penn State National Open, five performances etched their way into the Penn State record books. Danae Rivers broke her own school record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:02.94. Will Henderson set a PR in the men's long jump at 25-5.5 (7.76m) to tie the No. 4 distance in the program record books. Maddie Holmberg scored a personal-best 4219 points in the women's pentathlon for the second-best total in program history. Morgan Shigo's personal-best distance of 73-2 (22.30m) in the men's weight throw was also good enough for the No. 2 spot in the record books. Finally, the women's distance medley team of Marissa Sheva, Alexis Holmes, Victoria Tachinski and Rivers won with a time of 11:09.85 for the No. 3 time in program history.
Additionally, Henderson, Holmberg and Rivers have also set other PSU record book performances this indoor season. At the Simmons-Harvey Big Ten Invite on Jan. 19, Henderson set a school record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.65. Holmberg owns the No. 5 mark in school history in the women's long jump with a distance of 20-5 (6.22m) and 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.
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 Championship.
HOME SWEET HOME
Including this weekend's Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup, the Nittany Lions have hosted three meets inside the friendly confines of the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Penn State track & field will host one final indoor meet in the Penn State Tune-Up on Feb. 16.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will split squads next week with part of the team heading to the Pacific Northwest for the Husky Classic hosted by the University of Washington and the other half participating in the Tiger Paw Invite hosted by Clemson. Both meets run Friday, Feb. 8 through Saturday, Feb. 9.
