EUGENE, Ore. – The Penn State track & field team is set to take the biggest stage in college track & field this week as seven Nittany Lions will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Oregon.
Competition will begin on Wednesday with four members of the Penn State men's team in action on the meet's first day. Noah Swaby will be in competition first, kicking off the first of two days in the men's decathlon with the men's 100m dash beginning at 4 p.m. ET. It will be his second NCAA Championship appearance, as he qualified as a freshman in 2019.
Two of Penn State's throwers will also compete on Wednesday, as Tyler Merkley and Mark Porter will compete in the men's hammer throw finals and men's javelin finals respectively. Merkley will be making his second collegiate appearance at the NCAA Championships, as he qualified as a freshman at Kent State University in 2019. He claimed silver at the Big Ten Championship in the hammer throw in May. Two weeks after winning the Big Ten javelin championship, Mark Porter will be making his second appearance the NCAA Championships as a Nittany Lion. He placed 13th and claimed Second Team All-American honors in 2019.
Evan Dorenkamp will represent Penn State on the track Wednesday, competing in the men's 800m semifinals at 9:44 p.m. ET. Dorenkamp recorded a personal best 1:49.11 at the NCAA East Regional Preliminaries to qualify for the event. He will look to become Penn State's ninth men's 800m All-American since 2009.
Former NCAA Indoor 800m Champion Danae Rivers will compete in her 10th NCAA Championship meet when she takes the track in the 1500m semifinals on Thursday. Rivers recorded a season-best 4:12.81 to win her heat at the NCAA East Preliminaries to qualify for this week's meet. She is set to compete at 6:46 p.m. ET on Thursday with the chance to advance to Saturday's final.
Men's competition will conclude on Friday, when former indoor weight throw national champion David Lucas competes in the discus throw final. Lucas became the first Penn State athlete to win the Big Ten Men's Discus Champion this season and recorded a season-best 60.77m (199-4) throw at the NCAA East Preliminaries to qualify for the final event this week. Also kicking-off on Friday will be the women's heptathlon, when Big Ten Heptathlon Champion Maddie Holmberg will begin her final meet in the blue and white. Holmberg became Penn State's first heptathlon champion since 2016 at last month's conference meet. Both athletes will be making their returns to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as Holmberg competed at the meet in 2018 and Lucas competed at the meet from 2016-2018.
Penn State can potentially have two athletes competing on the meet's final day on Saturday, with Holmberg closing out the women's heptathlon and Rivers potentially competing in the women's 1500m final.
LIVE RESULTS | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
TV: ESPN2/ESPNU
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
PENN STATE EVENT SCHEDULE:
Wednesday June 9:
5:30 PM - Hammer Throw Finals (Tyler Merkley)
9:15 PM - Javelin Throw Finals (Mark Porter)
9:44 PM - 800m Semifinals (Evan Dorenkamp)
All Day - Men's Decathlon (Noah Swaby)
Thursday June 10
6:46 PM - 1500m Semifinals (Danae Rivers)
All Day - Men's Decathlon (Noah Swaby)
Friday June 11
7:35 PM - Discus Throw Finals (David Lucas)
9:14 PM - 800m Finals (Evan Dorenkamp)**
All Day - Women's Heptathlon (Maddie Holmberg)
Saturday June 12
6:11 PM - 1500m Finals (Danae Rivers)**
All Day- Women's Heptathlon (Maddie Holmberg)
All times Eastern
** Pending qualification