UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State track & field team will compete in its home facility for the second consecutive week when the team hosts the Penn State National Open on Friday and Saturday.
The meet will be held at Penn State's Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track and is slated to begin with women's multi-events at 11:45 a.m. on Friday and at noon on Saturday. Competition will be streamed live on BIG+ beginning at 4:25 p.m. on Friday.
LIVE STREAM | MEET RESULTS | MEET SCHEDULE | MEET PROGRAM
COMPETING TEAMS: Army West Point, Ashland, Binghamton, Buffalo, Duquesne, Maryland, Norfolk State, Penn State, Towson, UMBC
LAST TIME OUT: 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.
FULL INDOOR SCHEDULE
Dec. 4-5 - Bison Opener | Lewisburg, Pa. - COMPLETE
Jan. 15 - Nittany Lion Challenge | University Park, Pa. - COMPLETE
Jan. 21 -22 - Penn State National Open | University Park, Pa.
Jan. 29 - Sykes Sabock Challenge | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 4-5 - JDL Camel City Invitational | Winston Salem, N.C.
Feb. 4-5 - Armory Collegiate Challenge | New York, N.Y.
Feb. 11-12 - Boston University Invitational | Boston, Mass.
Feb. 11-12 - Vanderbilt Invitational | Nashville, Tenn.
Feb. 18 - Penn State Tune Up | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 18-19 - JDL DMR Invite | Winston Salem, N.C.
Feb. 25-26 - Big Ten Indoor Championships | Geneva, Ohio
