UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field program returns to the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track for the Penn State Tune Up on Friday, Feb. 21. The Nittany Lions compete at home for the final time during the 2020 indoor season and four Nittany Lions travel to North Carolina to compete at the JDL DMR Invitational. Penn State heads to Geneva, Ohio for the Big Ten Indoor Championships next week beginning on Friday, Feb. 28.
FOLLOW ALONG
Penn State Tune Up
Date: Feb. 21
Location: University Park
Time: Friday – 2:30 p.m. ET
Live Results
Meet Schedule
JDL Fast Track
Date: Feb. 21-22
Location: Winston-Salem, N.C.
Time: Friday – 7:30 p.m. ET /Saturday – 1:00 p.m.
Live Results
Meet Schedule
LAST TIME OUT
Senior David Lucas finished with a season-best mark in the men's weight throw. Lucas placed second in the weight throw at the Tiger Paw invitational with his top throw of 73-10.75 (22.52m). Lucas' throw places him fourth in the NCAA and No. 1 in the Big Ten in the weight throw. Lucas has placed in the top two in all four meets in which he has competed in the weight throw.
Katie Jones won her fourth pole vault event of the 2019-20 indoor season at the Tiger Paw Invitational. Jones cleared 13-8.25 (4.17m) to claim the pole vault title. Jones moved into a tie for second-place all-time in Penn State history earlier this season by clearing 13-8.5 (4.18m)
Captain Kiara Lester ran a season-best time in the women's 400m last weekend at the Tiger Paw Invitational. Lester ran a Big Ten best mark in the event with a time of 53.82. Along with Lester's season-best mark, Antoinette Bradley clock a personal-best time of 55.97.
Victoria Tachinski also followed up her school record setting performance in the 600m at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge with a collegiate personal-best mark of 2:07.51 in the 800m at the Tiger Paw Invitational.
Four Nittany Lion distance runners set personal-best marks at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Washington. Ben Bumgarner ran a personal-best time of 14:20.44 during the first day of competition in the men's 5000m.
Led by senior captain Billy McDevitt, each of the three Nittany Lions turned in the fastest mile races of their careers. McDevitt clocked 4:03.11 for his new personal-best time in the event. McDevitt was followed closely by Owen Wing and Drew Maher who both clocked their mile time at 4:04.18 to set new personal-best times.
NCAA RANKINGS
The Nittany Lions jumped two spots in the latest NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track & Field National Rating Index released by the USTFCCCA on Monday, Feb. 17. The women's program has been in the top 25 in every poll so far this season. The women's program also sports four event squads that rank in the top 10 and the men's program has three event squads that rank in the top 10.
NCAA Individual Top-25 Performances
Victoria Tachinski | 600m | 3rd NCAA | 1st B1G | 1:29.04
Danae Rivers | Mile | 4th NCAA | 1st B1G | 4:32.95
David Lucas | Weight Throw | 4th NCAA | 1st B1G | 73-10.75 (22.52m)
Maddie Holmberg | Pentathlon | 5th NCAA | 2nd B1G | 4,171 points
Alexa Parks | High Jump | 5th NCAA | 1st B1G | 6-0 (1.83m)
Danae Rivers | 800m | 5th NCAA | 1st B1G | 2:04.22
Will Henderson | 60m | 24th NCAA | 3rd B1G | 6.67
Katie Jones | Pole Vault | 25th NCAA | 3rd B1G | 13-8.5 (4.18m)
Breana Gambrell | Long Jump | 25th NCAA | 1st B1G | 20-3.75 (6.19m)
Gianna Rao | Weight Throw | 25th NCAA | 6th B1G | 67-3.25 (20.50m)
Tyler Merkley | Weight Throw | 25th NCAA | 7th B1G | 68-7.75 (20.92m)
BIG TEN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Nittany Lions head to the SPIRE Institute for the Big Ten Indoor Championships next week, Feb. 28-29.
Last season at the Big Ten Indoor championships, Penn State walked away with three individual Big Ten titles, two coming in the 800m race. Danae Rivers and Domenic Perretta combined to sweep the 800m event for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State returns to the Spire Institute for the first time since the Big Ten Indoor Championships in 2018. More information on the 2020 Big Ten Indoor Championships can be found by clicking here.