PHILADELPHIA – The Penn State track & field team opened its outdoor season with a strong showing at the Penn Invite at Franklin Field on Saturday.
The day consisted of mostly field events for Penn State, with the Nittany Lions recording several victories and personal bests throughout the afternoon.
"It was great to see Penn State back in action at a regular season outdoor track meet against competition from outside the Big Ten for the first time since 2019." Head Coach John Gondak said. "We had athletes open up today who do not compete indoors along with others that redshirted the indoor season. Plus we had some of our veterans compete who came through with performances at or near their personal bests. It was a great start to the season down in Philadelphia."
Big Ten pentathlon champion Chloe Royce got the day started with a personal record and victory in the women's 100h with a time of 14.27. She also earned a victory in the long jump with a personal best jump of 5.96m (19-6.75).
Also earning a victory with a PR was Cecelia Bacon, who earned the win in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.80m (5-10.75). Carlie Wilson placed third in the event with a jump of 1.72m.
The success carried into the throwing events as well for Penn State. Madison Smith opened her 2022 season with a win in the women's javelin, as the 2021 Big Ten silver medalist posted a throw of 47.51m (155-10). Teammate Piper Klinger got the win in the women's discus throw with a top toss of 44.03m (144-05). Gianna Rao started her outdoor season off strong with a second place finish in the hammer throw, recording a throw of 58.13m (190-08). Teammate Jean Star recorded a PR in the event with a 49.36m throw to place fifth.
On the men's side, Tom Bojalad had a strong day in two events, placing third in the discus throw with a PR of 53.51m and second in the shot put with a throw of 16.87m. Freshman Collin Burkhart kicked off his outdoor career with a third place finish in the javelin (67.00m). Teammates Kevin Bartosh (66.27m) and Tristan Schmidt (62.58m) placed right behind in fourth and fifth. The team closed out the day by placing first and second in the men's hammer throw with Tyler Merkley placing first (69.32m) and Burkhart placing second (62.89m).
The Nittany Lions will be back on the road next weekend with split-squad action at North Carolina State and Central Florida.
