EUGENE, Ore. – The Penn State track & field team kicked off competition on the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday.
The Nittany Lions got a career performance from Tyler Merkley, who recorded a personal-best throw of 70.28m (230-7) on his third attempt to advance to the finals. Merkley placed ninth in the event to earn Second Team All-American honors. The throw ranks second in Penn State program history. He completes a strong second season at Penn State in which he claimed the silver medal in the hammer throw at the Big Ten Championships.
Mark Porter also earned Second Team All-American honors, placing 12th in the men's javelin. The Big Ten javelin champion posted a throw of 69.19m (227-0) to close out his season. Like Merkley, Porter jumped up the Penn State all-time leaderboards this season with the program's second ranked throw of 73.94m (242-7)
Competition began Wednesday in the men's decathlon as Noah Swaby represented Penn State on the first day of the two-day event. Swaby opened the day with a personal-best 11.23 in the men's 100-meter. He currently has a score of 3738 heading into the final day of the decathlon on Thursday.
Swaby will be joined by former indoor national champion Danae Rivers in competition on Thursday in the first day of women's competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Rivers will be making her 10th career national championship appearance when she competes in the 1500m semifinals at 6:46 p.m. ET.