CORAL GABLES, Fla. / Durham, N.C. – The Penn State Track and Field teams saw a historic Luke Knipe performance highlight a dominant first day of split-squad action at the Miami (Fla.) Alumni Invitational and the Duke Invitational on Friday.
The Nittany Lions saw nine athletes achieve personal-best marks alongside four event victories throughout the day.
MIAMI ALUMNI INVITATIONAL
Late in the afternoon, All-Big Ten indoor second team selection Luke Knipe made Penn State history. The junior became the newest school record holder in pole vault when he cleared a height of 5.33m (17-5.75), breaking the previous top mark of 5.32m (17-5.5) set by John Vellenoweth in 2009. His height currently ranks third in the Big Ten.
Knipe's record-clearing vault highlighted a Nittany Lion sweep in the event, as Nicholas Marino and Jonathan Peterson finished second (4.97m) and third (4.82m), respectively, with personal-best marks of their own.
The throwers dominated the meet early on in the day, as Thomas Bojalad kicked things off with a winning throw of 53.26m (174-9) in men's discus. Mallory Kauffman followed up with a personal-best mark of 48.61m (159-5) in the women's discus to place second.
Senior Tyler Merkley made his way closer to taking the top program spot In men's hammer throw, as he had a new personal best toss of 71.33m (234-0) to improve upon his second all-time standing in program history. His distance ranks first in the Big Ten and second in the NCAA. Freshman Collin Burkhart had a career best throw of 63.00m (206-9) in the event.
Junior Chloe Royce competed in her first heptathlon of the outdoor season, finishing the first day of the event with 3,108 points scored through four events to stand in fourth place. She scored 934 points in the 100m hurdles, 736 points in the high jump, 586 points in shot put, and 852 points in the 200m dash.
Cecelia Bacon finished in first place in women's high jump, outleaping the field after clearing the height of 1.79m (5-10.5).
DUKE INVITATIONAL
In Durham, Faith Demars ran the fifth-fastest time in program history to place second in the women's 3000m Steeplechase with a mark of 10:11.22. Makenna Krebs and Jordan Williams both had personal-best times of their own at 10:26.39 and 10:34.05, respectively. Senior Connor McMenamin ran a 9:06.48 in the men's 3000m Steeplechase.
Sophia Toti ran a personal best time of 4:28.54 in the women's 1500m, and Kevin Haas ran a 3:50.35 on the men's side.
Nittany Lion action on the track resumes Saturday at noon in Duke with the men's 4x100m. Throwers and jumpers resume competition at 11:30 a.m. at Miami (Fla.) with men's javelin throw.
