UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field program swept the team portion of the Sykes & Sabock Challenge with victories for both the men's and women's team Saturday at the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
The No. 21-ranked men's team totaled 140 points while the No. 17-ranked women totaled 125.5. The meet was also Senior Day for 24 Penn State track & field student-athletes.
"I'm really proud of how the team competed today," said head coach John Gondak. "This was our first scored meet of the year and it also falls on a weekend where we tend to rest some of our top athletes so it's a great opportunity for some other individuals in the program to step up and compete and show us they want to be a part of our Big Ten championship culture and it showed they are ready to do that. To come out on top on both sides I was really happy that happened for the team and it's good momentum builder as we head into some great competitions next week and then the Big Ten Championship three weeks from now."
After last week's record performance in the men's weight throw, senior Morgan Shigo once again came out strong, beating last week's PR and recording a distance of 73-8.75 (22.47m) for the event victory. The mark is currently the sixth-best mark in the nation. Teammate Luke Grodeska placed third with a mark of 61-0 (18.59m) while freshman Jack Zimmerman threw a personal-best distance of 56-10.75 (17.34m) for sixth place.
In the women's throws, freshman Gianna Rao took home the weight throw title with a toss of 62-3 (18.97m). Classmate Payden Montana claimed the title in the shot put with a personal-best toss of 51-1.75 (15.59m). Maddie Holmberg placed fifth in the shot put with a personal-best mark of 46-4.25 (14.13m).
Devin Bradham won the men's high jump competition with a personal-best height of 7-0.25 (2.14m).
Devin Bradham clears a personal-best 7-0 on senior day!! 👏👏👏 #WeAre #PSUTF pic.twitter.com/aSObStcER9
— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) February 2, 2019
In the women's 60-meter dash, Amariah Thomas clocked in at 7.51 for second place and a personal-best time. Thomas also placed second in the women's 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 24.60.
The Penn State men swept the men's 200-meter dash. Anton Porter won with a time of 21.56, followed by Tristan Daman (second, 21.60) and Darien Williams (third, 21.66).
In the men's shot put, Grodeska took third with a personal-best toss of 56-1.25 (17.10m). Ben Peterson placed fourth at 55-7 (16.89m) and Zimmerman finished fifth with his second PR of the day at 55-5 (16.89m).
In the women's triple jump, Kelsey Vieira won on the final jump with a season-best mark of 40-11 (12.47m). Rachel Gearing finished third with a personal best mark of 39-9.25 (12.12m).
Freshman Breana Gambrell won the women's long jump for the second consecutive week with a mark of 19-4 (5.89m). Teammate Audra Koopman placed third (18-11.75/5.78m).
In the men's mile, three Nittany Lions finished in the top-five. Senior Colin Abert took third with a time of 4:05.86 while freshmen Brandon Hontz (4:06.43) and Ryan Barton (4:10.11) both ran personal best times for fourth and fifth place, respectively.
On Senior Day, senior Lauren Costa ran a personal-best 56.30 in the women's 400-meters. Fellow senior Samuel Reiser won the men's 600-meter run with a time of 1:21.11.
Three Nittany Lions finished in the top-five in the men's 800-meter run, championed by Gary Ross who ran 1:50.62 for first place. Billy McDevitt placed third at 1:52.23 while Drew Maher placed fifth at 1:52.49.
Brady Bobbitt placed third in the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:35.65 while Alex Tomasko clocked in at 8:36.36 for fourth and a PR.
Penn State will split squads next weekend as the Nittany Lions will compete in the Husky Classic (Seattle, Wash.), the Tiger Paw Invite (Clemson, SC) and the Iowa State Classic (Ames, Iowa).