UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Nittany Lions track and field program continues its indoor campaign on Saturday, January 23 with the Penn State Invite.
Visiting Teams
Rutgers, Maryland, Ohio State
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Results
Live Stream – Session 1/Session 2
Meet Schedule
Heat Sheets
Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week
The Big Ten Conference has announced that Evan Dorenkamp has been named the Big Ten Men's Track Athlete of the Week following his performance at the Nittany Lion Opener.
Dorenkamp hit the ground running for his 2021 season, running a blazing 4:01.91 mile in his first race of year.
Dorenkamp's mile time ranks No. 1 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the Big Ten and is nearly two seconds faster than the No. 2 time in the country. His performance ranks fifth all-time in the indoor mile event in Penn State history.
Dorenkamp becomes the latest Nittany Lion since David Lucas to earn an Athlete of the Week honor from the Big Ten Conference. Lucas was named the Field Athlete of the Week on February 5, 2020 last season for his performance in the weight throw.
Former Nittany Lion and national champion Isaiah Harris was the last Penn Stater to earn Track Athlete of the Week honors on February 14, 2018.
Dorenkamp's run at the Nittany Lion Opener was his personal best in the event and was over seven seconds faster than his top time he recorded in the mile as a freshman last season.
Nittany Lion Opener Rewind
The Nittany Lions' field events opened competition for Penn State on Saturday, the first competition for the Nittany Lions track & field program in 322 days.
Breana Gambrell kicked off her 2021 indoor season but claiming both the long jump and the triple jump titles. Gambrell's distance of 20-4.5 (6.21m) gave her the top distance in the long jump. Gambrell's best jump of 40-11.5 (12.48m) was also tops in the triple jump.
Erica Ellis took home the pole vault title to open the season for the Nittany Lions, clearing 12-10 (3.91m). Finishing second with the identical height, Hailey Zurich set a new collegiate-best by clearing 12-10 (3.91m).
The Nittany Lions picked up first-place finishes in the 60mH (Yasmin Brooks – 8.58), 200m (Jane Madson – 24.77), 1000m (Maddie Ullom – 2:49. 32), mile (Elizabeth Gilpatrick – 5:04.06), 3000m (Faith DeMars – 9:45.27).
2020 Big Ten bronze medalist in the 600m, Antoinette Bradley also opened her season with a 56.77 in the 400m race to cap the performances for the Nittany Lions.
During the afternoon sessions of Saturday's meet, the Nittany Lion throwers swept their events as Tyler Merkley captured the weight throw crown and Ben Peterson finished first in the shot put.
Sophomore Evan Dorenkamp nearly turned in a sub-four-minute mile, running 4:01.91 and bested his previous collegiate personal-best by over seven seconds.
Sincere Rhea, the 2020 bronze medalist in the 60mH, took home the 60mH crown on Saturday by running 7.88.
The final win of the day for the Nittany Lions was behind Ben Bumgarner, who won the men's 3000m race.
NCAA Top 25
Evan Dorenkamp | Mile | #1 NCAA | #1 Big Ten
Breana Gambrell | Long Jump | #6 NCAA | #1 Big Ten
Sincere Rhea | 60mH | #9 NCAA | #3 Big Ten
Tyler Merkley | Weight Throw | #13 NCAA | #3 Big Ten
Breana Gambrell | Triple Jump | #16 NCAA | #2 Big Ten
FULL INDOOR SCHEDULE
Jan. 16 – Nittany Lion Opener (University Park, Pa.) – Completed
Jan. 23 – Penn State Invite (University Park, Pa.)
Feb. 6 - @ Wolverine Invitational (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Feb. 12-13 – Big Ten Preview @ Spire (Geneva, Ohio)
Feb. 19 – Penn State Tune Up (University Park, Pa.)
Feb. 25-27 – Big Ten Indoor Championships (Geneva, Ohio)
March 11-13 – NCAA Indoor Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.)