GENEVA, Ohio – Competition continued on Friday as the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships entered its second day at the SPIRE Institute.
The Penn State track and field team got off to a solid start on the day, with two competitors from the men's team advancing to the finals in their respective events. Domenic Perretta was first, finishing second in his heat of the 800m run, automatically advancing him to Saturday's final. His 1:49.53 time was the second best in the preliminary round of the event and his first 800 of the year. Perretta will compete in the 800m finals on Saturday at 11:35 a.m.
Lance Hamilton recorded his best triple jump of the season, recording a jump of 14.92m (48-11.50) on his third attempt to advance to the final. Hamilton placed eighth in the event, earning the Nittany Lions their first score of the day and is Lance's first time scoring at the Big Ten Championship.
On the women's side, Victoria Tachinski won the second heat of the 800m prelims with a time of 2:07.52. Teammate Victoria Vanriele followed by winning the third heat with a 2:07.86, placing one spot behind Tachinski on the overall leaderboard. The time set a new personal best for the freshman. The pair will compete in the 800m final on Saturday at 4:45 p.m.
Breana Gambrell once again reached the finals in an event, this time doing so in the triple jump. Gambrell placed fifth overall in the event with a 12.42m (40-09.00).
"We had another successful day at the championships with the athletes we have competing this weekend," Head Coach John Gondak said. "It was great to see Domenic back on the track after missing some training time this month, and I am proud of Victoria and Victoria both winning their heat. Our triple jump athletes battled well today with Lance scoring and with Breana coming back off the long jump yesterday to almost set a new PR in the triple jump and score points for the team. We are looking forward to seeing everyone compete tomorrow in their championship finals."
The Nittany Lions will compete in 13 final events on Saturday, beginning with the men's pole vault and shot put at 11:00 a.m.