UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State track & field team wrapped up the regular season at the Penn State Tune Up on Friday.
The day was highlighted by another program record setting performance, as Luke Knipe bested his own indoor Penn State record with a pole vault of 5.31m (17-5). He beat his previous program record of 5.30m from last year's Big Ten Championships. Knipe is the fourth Nittany Lion to set a program record this season joining Katie Jones (women's pole vault), Allison Johnson (women's 800m) and Evan Dorenkamp (men's mile). For the second week in a row, Hailey Zurich recorded a pole vault above 4.20m, winning the event with a 4.21m vault. Breana Gambrell had another solid day in the long jump, placing first with a jump of 6.21m.
It was a strong day for the Penn State throwers, as the team added personal bests in both the men's and women's weight throw and the women's shot put. Tyler Merkley set his personal best for the fifth time this season, recording a throw of 21.83m on his final attempt of the day. The throw ranks third in program history. In the women's event Gianna Rao got the victory with a PR of 20.53m, the fourth best in program history. Mallory Kauffman recorded her first career 17+ meter shot put throw, winning the event with a toss of 17.19m. The throw ranks third in program history.
On the track, Victoria Vanriele recorded Penn State's best 600m time of the year with a 1:29.86. The race also saw a strong performance from Rachel Gearing, who set a PR of her own with a time of 1:30.18. Jordan Williams earned the win in the women's mile, setting a PR with a time of 4:49.86. On the men's side, Domenic Perretta won the 800m with his best time of the season (1:49.15) with Darius Smallwood placing second with a personal best 1:49.87. Isaac Davis led the way for Penn State in the 3000m, posting a personal best 8:07.24 in the 3000m run.
The Nittany Lions will head to SPIRE next weekend for the Big Ten Championships on Feb. 25 and 26.
