RALEIGH, NC & GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Penn State track & field programs were split between the Florida and Raleigh Relays on Friday. Several Nittany Lions set personal-best times at the Raleigh Relays. Three Nittany Lions student-athletes entered the top-five in the NCAA following their respective performances at the Florida Relays.
Florida Relays
Danae Rivers continued her impressive 2019 by winning the 800-meter run at the Florida Relays. Rivers ran 2:03.63 and took possession of the top time in the NCAA.
Alexis Holmes also continued her success in the 400-meter run. Holmes ran 52.08 and gave her the third fastest time in the NCAA in the women's 400m.
In the men's 800-meter run, Domenic Perretta clocked in with a time of 1:47.75. Perratta kept the Nittany Lions climbing the national ranks. His time ranks second in the NCAA in the men's 800-meter race.
Billy McDevitt's time of 1:50.06 in the men's 800m placed McDevitt in the top-25 in the NCAA.
All three Nittany Lions set personal-best marks in the men's 1500-meter race. Colin Abert finished second in the 1500m with a time of 3:44.26. Drew Maher placed sixth with her personal-best time of 3:47.44. Isaiah Claiborne's time of 3:50.10 placed him 13th in the 1500m.
Morgan Shigo improved his distance in the hammer throw with a distance of 234 feet, 4 inches (71.44m). Shigo finished sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw in 2018 and holds the school record in the event.
The Nittany Lions continue competition tomorrow by running in four relay events.
"I am very excited about how the team competed at both Raleigh and Florida. We are two meets into the outdoor season and right on track for what we want to accomplish this season. I am looking forward to seeing how we do tomorrow running relays here at Florida." Head coach John Gondak said of his team's performance.
Raleigh Relays
Julia Paternain won her heat in a time 16:06.67 and placed sixth overall in the women's 5000-meter race. Paternain was joined by teammate Moira O'Shea who placed 10th overall in the women's 5000m race. O'Shea finished in 16:11.46.
In the men's 3000-meter steeplechase, James Abrahams turned in a personal-best time. Abrahams placed seventh in the event with a time of 8:57.26.
Kathryn Munks ran the women's 10,000-meter in a time of 34:29.79. Munks placed 16th in the event in the final competition for the Nittany Lions at the Raleigh Relays.
"Today was a great day of distance races in Raleigh with a lot of personal-best performances and NCAA regional-qualifying marks. I'm very proud of the progress that the entire distance group is making and I'm looking forward to continue to build from these performances this season." Assistant coach Angela Reckart stated about the distance runners' performances.
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