UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field program will travel to Geneva, Ohio, this week to compete at the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute.
The three-day competition will run from Feb. 25-27, with the first event scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday. All three days of the competition will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network+.
The Nittany Lions will return to action for the first time since Feb. 5, when they hosted Rutgers and Maryland for a tri-meet.
At the 2020 conference championships, Penn State finished third in the women's meet and ninth in the men's meet. The team complied six individual championships, including two by Danae Rivers.
COMPETING TEAMS
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin
FOLLOW ALONG – Meet Central | Event Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 25 – Stream | Live Results
Friday, Feb. 26 – Stream | Live Results
Saturday, Feb. 27 – Stream | Live Results
BIG TEN RECORD BOOKS - Men's | Women's
EVENT SCORING
Traditional NCAA scoring rules will apply, with values scored to eight places for both track and field events as follows: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Scoring will be the same for individual and relay events.
PSU TRI-MEET REWIND
Breana Gambrell continued her impressive 2021. For the second straight competition, Gambrell set a new personal-best in the long jump event. On her final attempt of the competition, Gambrell jumped 20-8.5 (6.31m) to claim her third straight long jump title of the season. She currently ranks No. 14 in the NCAA in the long jump and No. 2 in the Big Ten in the event.
The duo of Victoria VanRiele and Victoria Tachinski had another battle in the 600m race. Vanriele turned in a collegiate-best time of 1:29.51 to win the 600m race. Tachinski rank 1:29.77 to finish second. Last season, Tachinski set the Penn State record in the event with a time of 1:29.04.
Faith DeMars and Sophia Toti finished second and third in the mile, running 4:54.24 and 4:54.97 each setting a PR in the race. Nittany Lion Katie Munks won the event, running unattached with a time of 4:53.47.
Ekaterina Hupalo continued the trend of new PRs on Saturday. After winning her heat of the 60mH event, Hupalo set her new best time in the finals of the event. Hupalo ran 8.48 in the final for her new PR.
Erica Ellis won her third pole vault event of the season by clearing a season-best 13-1.75 (4.01m).
Gianna Rao opened her 2021 season on Saturday with a top toss of 59-9.75 (18.23m), placing second in the event. Piper Klinger finished just behind Rao, finishing third.
The 4x400m relay team of Jane Madson, Vanriele, Rachel Gearing and Antoinette Bradley capped the morning session of the meet with a season-best time of 3:44.68
On the men's side, Tyler Merkley improved his mark in the weight throw for the third straight competition. Merkley's best throw of 67-11.75 (20.72m) gave him the weight throw title.
Ben Peterson launched a season-best 59-5.5 (18.12m) to win the shot put title. Duane Knisley and Lucciano Pizarro finished second and third behind Peterson.
Other wins for the Nittany Lions included, Lance Hamilton (triple jump), Luke Knipe (pole vault), Sincere Rhea (60mH, 200m), Ben Bumgarner (mile).
NITTANY LIONS IN THE TOP 25
Breana Gambrell | Long Jump | 20-8.5 (6.31m) | 14th NCAA | 2nd Big Ten
Victoria Tachinski | 800m | 2:06.71 | 21st NCAA | 2nd Big Ten
Sincere Rhea | 60mH | 7.88 | 25th NCAA | 3rd Big Ten
FULL INDOOR SCHEDULE
Jan. 16 – Nittany Lion Opener (University Park, Pa.) – Completed
Jan. 23 – Penn State Invite (University Park, Pa.) - Completed
Feb. 6 – PSU Tri Meet (University Park, Pa.) - Completed
Feb. 25-27 – Big Ten Indoor Championships (Geneva, Ohio)
March 11-13 – NCAA Indoor Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.)