GENEVA, Ohio - The Penn State track and field team kicked off competition at the Big Ten Championships at the SPIRE Institute on Thursday.
The Nittany Lions' top performance on the day came in the long jump, with Breana Gambrell and Audra Koopman placing fifth and seventh respectively. Gambrell recorded a top jump of 5.93m while Koopman posted a distance of 5.87m to score six team points for the Lions.
Sophomore Piper Klinger recorded Penn State's top distance in the weight throw this season on Thursday, winning the first flight of the competition with a personal best toss of 18.32m (60-01.25). The throw placed her 10th in the competition.
Freshman Victoria Mathiew ran her second fastest 60 meter hurdle time of the season to place 10th overall, one spot shy of advancing to the finals.
On the men's side, the day was highlighted by a pair of performances early in the afternoon. Sophomore Sincere Rhea was first, as he placed second in his heat of the 60-meter hurdles and sixth overall by tying his season best time of 7.88. The finish advances Rhea to Saturday's final scheduled to take place at 11:45 a.m.
True freshman thrower Henry Zimmerman was Penn State's first scorer of the day, as he won the first flight of the competition with a personal best 19.78m (64-10.75). The toss advanced him to the final where he placed eighth to score his first points of his Penn State career.
Penn State's first scorer of the weekend, true freshman Henry Zimmerman with a personal best 19.78m weight throw 💪 #WeAre pic.twitter.com/cHoDMKRbZv
— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) February 25, 2021
"We showed some good spark today, especially in the throws, with Piper and Henry winning their flights and Henry advancing to the finals as well as Sincere advancing to the 60h final and scoring in the women's long jump," Head Coach John Gondak said. "We are very shorthanded this year on both sides, but especially on the men where we only traveled 13 athletes as compared to the 32 we are allowed to enter. We look forward to day two tomorrow and achieving some more success with the athletes we have here competing."
Competition will continue on Friday in the second of three days at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Penn State is set to compete in several events, including the men's and women's triple jump and 800m runs. The Nittany Lions are set to begin competition at noon with the men's triple jump.