UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field program hits the road for a pair of meets Friday through Saturday. The Nittany Lions are split between the Tiger Paw Invitational hosted by Clemson and the Husky Classic hosted by the University of Washington February 14-15.
FOLLOW ALONG
Tiger Paw Invite
Date: February 14-15
Location: Clemson, South Carolina
Time: Friday – 12 p.m./Saturday – 11 a.m.
Live Results
Meet Schedule
Husky Classic
Date: February 14-15
Location: Seattle, Washington
Time: Friday – 5 p.m./Saturday – 1 p.m.
Live Results
Live Stream ($)
Meet Schedule
*All times listed in Eastern time
LAST TIME OUT
Last week at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge hosted by Penn State, a second school record was broken at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in as many weeks. Junior Victoria Tachinski set the new program standard in the women's 600m race, running 1:29.04 to break the previous school record held by teammate Danae Rivers. Rivers' previous school record was 1:29.06, a mark which she set in 2017.
The field events saw five Nittany Lions claim victory in their respective events at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge.
Gianna Rao threw a personal-best mark of 67-3.25 (20.50m) to win the women's weight throw. Along with Rao, David Lucas won his second weight throw event of the season by throwing 68-5.25 (20.86m). Ben Peterson won the men's shot put for another shot put crown during the 2020 season with a top throw of 58-4.75 (17.80m). Sophomore Katie Jones moved into a tie for No. 2 all-time at Penn State in the women's pole vault with her performance last weekend. Jones cleared 13-8.5 (4.18m) to win the pole vault title. Jones is tied with Hannah Mulhern ('18) for second all-time. Freshman Erica Ellis also moved into the top-five all-time at Penn State with her collegiate-best mark of 13-4.5 (4.08m) for the fifth spot on PSU's all-time list in the pole vault.
Breana Gambrell rounded out the victories for the Nittany Lions by winning the women's long jump event. Gambrell jumped 20-1.75 (6.14m) four her fourth win overall of the 2019-20 indoor season and second win in the long jump.
Senior captain Billy McDevitt ran a personal-best time of 1:49.91 to win the 800m at the Sykes and Sabock Challenge. Running at the prestigious Millrose Games last weekend, senior Danae Rivers posted the NCAA No. 4 time in the women's mile, clocking 4:32.95.
NCAA RANKINGS
The women's track & field program remains in the top-25 in the latest NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track & Field National Rating Index at No. 19. The Penn State women's team has been ranked in every poll so far this season and ended 2019 as the No. 11 team in the NCAA.
NCAA Individual Top-25 Performances
Danae Rivers | 800m | 2:04.22 | 3rd NCAA | 1st B1G
Victoria Tachinski | 600m | 1:29.04 | 3rd NCAA | 1st B1G
Danae Rivers | Mile | 4:32.95 | 4th NCAA | 1st B1G
Alexa Parks | High Jump | 6-0 (1.83m) | 5th NCAA | 1st B1G
Maddie Holmberg | Pentathlon | 4,171 points | 5th NCAA | 2nd B1G
David Lucas | Weight Throw | 72-7 (22.12m) | 5th NCAA | 1st B1G
Breana Gambrell | Long Jump | 20-3.75 (6.19m) | 19th NCAA | 1st B1G
Tyler Merkley | Weight Throw | 68-7.75 (20.92m) | 19th NCAA | 6th B1G
Will Henderson | 60m | 6.67 | 20th NCAA | 3rd B1G
Gianna Rao | Weight Throw | 67-3.75 (20.50m) | 22nd NCAA | 6th B1G
Katie Jones | Pole Vault | 13-8.5 (4.18m) | 24th NCAA | 3rd B1G
Sincere Rhea | 60m Hurdles | 7.81 | 25th NCAA | 2nd B1G
FINAL TIME AT HOME
Following this weekend's meets, the Nittany Lions return to the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track for the final time in 2020 for the Penn State Tune-Up on Friday, February 21.
For more information on Penn State track & field, visit gopsusports.com/tf.