MIRAMAR, Fla. - A trio of Nittany Lion freshman travel to Miramar, Florida, for the USA Track & Field U20 Outdoor Championships Friday-Sunday, June 21-23. Freshmen Justin Ofotan, Gianna Rao and Drew Maher will compete for the opportunity to qualify for the Pan American U20 Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica.
To qualify for the U.S. team for the Pan American U20 Championships, the two highest placing finishers who elect to compete will represent the U.S. at the U20 Championships.
Ofotan, Rao and Maher all represented Penn State at the NCAA East Prelims in their first season in the blue & white.
Justin Ofotan (Washington, D.C.) will run in the 100-meter dash in Miramar in hopes of qualifying for the Pan American championships. During the 2019 season, Ofotan improved on his 100m time in every meet he ran. His best three performances began with the 125th Penn Relays. Ofotan clocked at 10.48 in the finals of the Penn Relays prior to the Big Ten Championships. He followed up the Penn Relays by running a 10.44 to advance to the Big Ten final before turning in a 10.39 in the championship race.
Ofotan continued to improve his time by running a 10.38 in the NCAA East Region Prelims for his personal-best mark in the 100m. His time of 10.38 is good for fifth all-time in Penn State history in the 100m event.
Drew Maher (West Long Branch, N.Y.) joined Ofotan at the NCAA East Prelims in his first season as a Nittany Lion.
Maher turned in his season-best time at the Bison Outdoor Classic in the 1500-meter race, running 3:44.88. This time helped Maher qualify for the NCAA East Region Prelims.
With his time of 3:44.88, Maher currently has the fastest time of those scheduled to run at the USA Track & Field U20 outdoor championships this weekend.
Gianna Rao (Ponaganset, R.I.) also travels to Miramar to participate in the women's hammer throw. Rao represented the Nittany Lions at the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA East Prelims in the hammer throw.
Her collegiate-best mark of 59.05m (193-9) ranks fourth all-time at Penn State in the women's hammer throw.
For more information on the USA Track & Field U20 Outdoor Championships click here.
