UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The second day of the National Open saw a Penn State record that stood since 1987 fall in the women's high jump. Alexa Parks made Penn State history by clearing 6-0 (1.83m) to set the new school record in the high jump.
Parks cleared her first three heights on three attempts. On her final attempt at 5-9.25 (1.76m) Parks cleared the height to match her previous personal-best mark. Parks then cleared 5-10.75 (1.80m) on her first attempt to set a new personal-best.
On her third attempt at 6-0 (1.83m) Alexa Parks set the new Penn State school record by clearing the height and becoming the first Nittany Lion ever to jump 6-0 or higher. Parks height of 6-0 (1.83m) is currently good for No. 4 in the NCAA.
Parks was not the only one to rewrite the Penn State record book on Saturday. Sophomore pole vaulter Katie Jones cleared 13-8.25 (4.17m) to move into third place all-time in the women's pole vault. Jones previously sat fourth in the pole vault in PSU history.
Women's high jump | 🦁
— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) February 1, 2020
Alexa Parks with a new school record of 6-0 (1.83m)!! 🙌#WeAre #PSUTF pic.twitter.com/iFB0aGPmGK
"It's always great to be here at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Our home facility, we love this place. Personally, this is one of my favoritie meets of the year. The way we set it up with a great Friday night, centered around sprints, throws and jumps. Then today to have the best sections of the races in the afternoon, one right after the other. Its just a great atmosphere. We had an amazing crowd today and we had some amazing performances." Coach Gondak said of the National Open.
Senior captain Danae Rivers continued her strong showing to begin 2020. Rivers ran 2:04.22 to win the women's 800m invitational. Rivers time is good for No. 2 in the NCAA currently. Victoria Tachinski also ran 2:08.40 in her first 800m race of the season.
Another win for the Nittany Lions came in the women's 600m race. Antoinette Bradley ran a strong race, running 1:32.03 to win the event. Penn State swept the 600m event as Karl Johnson clocked a 1:18.29 to grab the 600m title.
Kiara Lester moved into the top three in the Big Ten in a pair of events with her performances on Saturday. Lester ran 54.27 in the women's 400m invitational. Lester's time is currently No. 3 in the Big Ten in the 400m. Lester then ran 24.09 in the 200m dash. Lester also now currently ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten in the 200m.
The men's 200m dash saw Justin Ofotan complete his strong weekend with a time of 21.30 to place fourth in the race.
A very strong performance by Owen Wing in the men's invitational mile saw a personal-best mark for the junior. Wing ran his best time of 4:05.89 to finish fourth in the very competitive mile race.
Ben Peterson had another solid showing in the men's shot put with a throw of 59-03.50 (18.07m) to place third in the shot put.
The Nittany Lions finished the meet by finished first and second in the men's and women's 4x400m invitational.
The men's 4x400m relay team led from wire-to-wire running 3:11.28 to win the final event of the day as Hebron, Rhea, Ross and Johnson comfortably took home the 4x400m title in the day's final race.
The Nittany Lions host the Sykes & Sabock Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 8 for their next meet of the season.