UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Competing for the first time in 2022, the Penn State track & field team had a strong day in its home opener at the Nittany Lion Challenge on Saturday.
"Our team really responded well today from the very beginning of the meet to the end," Head Coach John Gondak said. "Our team competed with heart and passion, and it was really exciting to see what they did in the blue and white today. We had a ton of great performances and it really set us up well moving into our meet next week."
Penn State athletes combined for 17 event victories on the day, with six athletes recording performances that rank in the top five in program history.
One of the meets highlights came in the women's 1000m run, where freshman Allison Johnson recorded the second fastest time in Penn State history (2:43.12) and Victoria Tachinski posted the program's fifth fastest time (2:45.44). Johnson's time is the fastest recorded time in the nation thus far this season. The duo was also part of Penn State's 4x400 winning team along with Leena Morant and Rachel Gearing.
Two other Nittany Lions entered the top five list with victories on the track, with Evan Dorenkamp recording Penn State's fifth best 3000m time (8:01.84) and Yasmin Brooks posting the program's fifth fastest 60m hurdles time of 8.30. Dorenkamp's time is the sixth best in the NCAA this season.
Two Penn State throwers also found themselves recording big numbers, with Mallory Kauffman recording the program's third best all-time shot put throw of 16.52m and Tyler Merkley closing out the meet with a 21.17m weight throw, the fourth best in program history.
A day full of personal bests extended to the Penn State jumpers as well, with Wesley Matsuka-Williams winning the men's triple jump with a mark of 15.25m and Tesia Thomas winning the women's triple jump with a leap of 12.21m.
Two other race winners recorded personal bests on the day, with Rachel Gearing recording a 1:30.30 in the women's 600m and Faith Demars recording a 4:49.45 in the women's mile.
"It was a great day here in Happy Valley," Gondak said. "We had packed stands all day long and it was phenomenal. The atmosphere here when things get going is hard to beat. We're looking forward to being back here competing the next two weekends."
Full Results: https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=4743
