CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Penn State track & field day had another strong performance in the final day of competition at the Fighting Illini Big Ten Relays at the University of Illinois on Saturday.
The day began with field competition and was highlighted by two event victories and a number of personal records. Tyler Merkley opened the day with a second place finish in the men's hammer throw, setting a new personal record of 66.56m (218-4). The throw ranks second in the Big Ten conference this season. In her final attempt of the day in the triple jump, Breana Gambrell set an outdoor personal best of 12.39m (40-7.75) to win the event. Duane Knisley added another win for Penn State, placing first in the discus throw with a PR of 51.39m (168-7).
On the track, the men's 4x800 team of Brandon Hontz, Drew Maher, Isaiah Claiborne and Evan Dorenkamp highlighted the afternoon's events with a third place finish with a time of 7:33.07.
The Nittany Lions will close out the road portion of their schedule regular season schedule next weekend before hosting the Jim Thorpe Open at Penn State on May 7. The team is scheduled for two meets next weekend as it will travel to Columbus, Ohio for the Jesse Owens Invite on April 30 and May 1 and Bloomington, Ind., for the Billy Hayes Invitational on May 1.