UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field program hosted its final indoor home meet before championship week Saturday in the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
In the women's weight throw, freshman Gianna Rao took first place with a personal-best mark of 64-2.5 (19.57m). On the men's side, junior All-American David Lucas won with a season-best 73-8.75 (22.47m).
Senior Colin Abert won the men's mile race, clocking in at a season-best time of 4:02.65. The Penn State women went one-two-three in the women's mile, with sophomore Moira O'Shea winning the race, running a personal-best 4:48.45. Marissa Sheva placed second (4:53.23) and Jordan Williams finished third (PR - 4:53.92).
In the women's triple jump, freshman Rachel Gearing finished second with a personal-best mark of 40-2.25 (12.25m). On the men's side, Bryce Williams jumped 50-0 (15.24m) for the win.
In the men's 800-meter run, freshman Malual Mu ran a personal-best 1:53.21 for first place. Classmate Ryan Barton finished third at 1:53.88 also for a PR. On the women's side, Grace Trucilla finished third at 2:12.00.
Penn State swept the top-three finishes in the men's shot put, with freshman Thomas Bojalad throwing a personal-best 55-7.5 (16.95) for first place. Luke Grodeska (55-4.75/16.88m) and Noah Swaby (49-1/14.96m) finished second and third, respectively.
Ben Bumgarner ran a PR time of 8:15.22 in the men's 3,000-meter run for second place while John McGowan also PR'd at 8:17.83 for third.
Up next, Penn State looks to capture its first conference title on the men's side and fourth on the women's side at the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championship, Friday, Feb. 22 through Saturday, Feb. 23 hosted by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The meet will be streamed live via BTN2go.com and the Fox Sports Go app.
