UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State track and field program opened the 2020 year with the Nittany Lion Challenge on Saturday, January 11 at the Multi-Sport Facility/Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Several Nittany Lions turned in personal-best performances during the first meet of 2020.
"I was really pleased with the efforts that we saw today. This is a challenging time of year for us. We train all fall, then we go through final exam week. Then the team is on their own for two and a half weeks and then they come back. We spend about a week putting them through some training to see where they are and use this meet, really to test and get a baseline where we are right now and what we need to do moving forward. Saw some really good things, saw some things we can be better at and that's what this meet is all about. Overall, I'd rate is as a successful day." Head coach John Gondak said of his program's performance at the Nittany Lion Challenge.
Freshman Mallory Kauffman kicked off competition with a collegiate-personal best mark in the shot put event. Kauffman threw 14.66m to place second in the event. Kauffman was the highest finishing collegiate competitor as Penn State track and field alum Rachel Fatherly won the event. Fatherly broke her own meet record with a throw of 18.29m.
Continuing the strong performance in the throws events, Gianna Rao won the weight throw event with a distance of 20.37m. Rao's throw was her personal-best in the event. Rao's distance ranks 14th in the NCAA.
The Nittany Lions took first and second place in the men's hammer throw event. Senior David Lucas threw 21.50m in his first meet since the NCAA Indoor Championships last year to complete the Nittany Lions sweep of the weight throw event on Saturday. Lucas earned his second All-America honor in the weight throw in 2019 and was the NCAA National Champion in the event in 2018. Tyler Merkley placed second with a personal-best throw of 20.92m. Lucas ranks third in the NCAA in the weight throw with his distance of 21.50m and Merkley ranks 12th.
Another sweep for the Nittany Lions occurred in the pole vault events. Luke Knipe and Katie Jones both won their respective pole vault events as Jones height of 4.01m currently ranks 11th in the NCAA in the women's pole vault. Jones ranks fourth all-time in the pole vault in indoor competition and holds the school record in the event in outdoor competition.
The sprint squad turned in an equally impressive performance as Brooke-Lynn Williams and Will Henderson each claimed the 60m dash titles. Williams ran 7.55 in both the qualifying heat and the final to win her first race of the season. Henderson nearly matched his school record time of 6.65 with a 6.67 in qualifying before claiming the title in the finals. Freshman Sincere Rhea claimed a victory in the 60m hurdles in his first meet as a Nittany Lion, running 7.98 in both qualifying and final race.
Henderson grabbed his second title of the day by winning the long jump event with a jump of 7.32m on his first attempt. Senior Maddie Holmberg claimed another long jump championship for the Nittany Lions in the women's competition. Holmberg jumped 6.12m to win the event.
The jumps success continued for the Nittany Lions as Breana Gambrell jumped a personal-best of 12.37m to win the triple jump event. Gambrell ranks in the top 22 in both the triple jump and long jump events in the NCAA. Gambrell ranks fifth in the long jump with her distance of 6.19m at the Bison Opener back in December.
Alexa Parks grabbed the women's high jump championship in her first meet of the year. Parks set an indoor personal-best mark of 1.75m en route to her win. Parks successfully cleared the height on her third attempt after being unsuccessful on her first two tries.
Penn State ended the meet by winning both 4x400m relay races. The women's team of Kiara Lester, Victoria Tachinski, Amariah Thomas and Antoinette Bradley won the race with a time of 3:42.60. The men's 4x400m relay team came from behind on the final straightaway to claim the win. Made up of four freshman, Savion Hebron, Sincere Rhea, Godwin Kabanda and Karl Johnson ran 3:13.49 to win the race. This time ranks 16th in the NCAA.
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