CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. & LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Nittany Lions track & field program completed a full day of events at both the Virginia Challenge and the Bucknell Team Challenge on Saturday. The weekend saw numerous Nittany Lions set season- and personal-best marks.
Virginia Challenge Recap
Freshman Alexis Holmes was the first Nittany Lion to clock a personal-best, accomplishing this in the women's 200-meter race. Holmes won the event in a time of 23.53. Holmes cut .24 seconds off her personal-best outdoor time of 23.77 which she achieved at the LSU Battle on the Bayou. Holmes' time currently moves her up to fourth in the Big Ten in the women's 200-meter.
In the women's 400-meter hurdles, Antoinette Bradley won the event in a personal-best time of 1:00.79. Bradley shaved over a second off her previous personal-best.
Another win for the Nittany Lions came from sophomore Domenic Perretta. Perretta ran the top-time in the men's 800-meter invitational. Perretta finished the 800m with a time of 1:49.44.
Junior Danae Rivers completed the women's 1,500-meter invitational in a time of 4:15.17. Currently, Danae ranks first in the Big Ten with her time at the Virginia Challenge and ranks seventh in the NCAA.
Another personal-best time was set for the Nittany Lions in the women's 5000-meter invite. Freshman Julia Paternain ran 16:00.10 and had the top college time at the Virginia Challenge. Paternain moves into the top-26 in the NCAA and remains in the top-five in the Big Ten.
William Henderson turned in his best jump of the 2019 outdoor season with a distance of 25-1.25 (7.65m). This moved Henderson to third in the Big Ten in the men's long jump.
A season-best for senior Morgan Shigo moved him into the top-five in the NCAA in the men's hammer throw. Shigo's top throw traveled 236-4 (72.05m) and moved him into fifth in the NCAA.
Competing in his first decathlon at Penn State, Noah Swaby turned in a top-10 performance all-time at Penn State. Swaby impressed on Saturday by finishing second in the discus, third in the javelin, and first in the 1,500-meter. Swaby finished with 7,218 points to rank ninth all-time in Penn State history in the decathlon.
Bucknell Team Challenge
Audra Koopman won the women's long jump with a distance of 18-10 (5.74m). Koopman improved her 2019 outdoor distance by .25 meters on Saturday.
Freshman Piper Klinger claimed another first-place podium for the Nittany Lions in the women's discus throw. Klinger registered a personal-best 151-5 (46.16m) to take the top place in the event. Klinger also finished second in the women's hammer throw. Her top throw traveled 166-1 (50.62m), another personal-best.
The Nittany Lions travel to the Penn Relays for the next meet of the 2019 outdoor season.
For more information on the Penn State track & field team, visit gopsusports.com.
