UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track and field teams will continue their postseason competition as they compete at the NCAA East preliminary rounds hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. from Wednesday to Saturday.
The Nittany Lions will have 18 student-athletes represent the men's team and 16 student-athletes compete on the women's side, with each looking to clinch spots into the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. from June 8-11.
To check out the full list of competing Nittany Lions, click here.
Competition on the men's side is scheduled to begin on Wednesday at 10 a.m. on the field and 6 p.m. on the track. The women's slate is set to begin on Thursday with the same start times.
*NOTE: Due to inclement weather, Wednesday's scheduled start time on the track was pushed forward to 2 p.m. No changes were made for Thursday's start times.*
HOW TO FOLLOW/LIVE RESULTS
Meet Central- https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/2022/3/9/2022-NCAA-East-Prelim.aspx
Live Results- https://flashresults.ncaa.com/OutdoorRegionals/2022/East/index.htm
Live Stream- https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_homddm0q
A LOOK BACK
Penn State had a competitive weekend at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Minneapolis that saw one Nittany Lion become a Big Ten champion and nine total student-athletes medal.
The women's team finished in fourth place with 82.5 points, while the men finished seventh with 61 points.
The weekend was highlighted by Yasmin Brooks' golden run in the 100-meter hurdles finals on Sunday that saw her clock a wind-aided season best time of 12.99 (+2.4) to cross the finish line in first.
Tyler Merkley kicked off a busy weekend for the throwers as he earned a second-place podium finish in men's hammer throw with a mark of 70.08m (229-11).
The javelin throw saw the duo of Kevin Bartosh and freshman Collin Burkhart take silver and bronze, respectively, for the men's side. Bartosh narrowly missed gold after launching a career-best throw of 68.05m (223-3) to place second. Burkhart finished right behind by clinching third with a throw of 65.54m (215-0).
Madison Smith earned a third-place finish of her own in the women's javelin after her best throw on the weekend traveled 51.30m (168-4).
Running in her first ever 10,000 meter race, sophomore Sophia Toti finished with a time of 34:33.45 to take silver after the latter-half of the race saw her chase down multiple runners.
A pair of bronze finishes on the track also went to Maddie Ullom and Rachel Gearing. Ullom finished with a time of 4:23.81 in the women's 1500 meter finals to take third and the women's 800 meter finals saw Gearing use a terrific kick down the final straightaway to grab bronze with a time of 2:06.39.
The final medaling performance on the weekend went to Lance Hamilton, who finished third in the men's triple jump final with a leap of 15.80m (51-10) to take bronze.
HIGH-RANKING NITTANY LIONS
Following last weekend, here are the Penn State student-athletes currently ranked among the top 25 in the nation for their respective events, via TFRRS and the USTFCCCA:
- Tyler Merkley- ranked eighth in men's hammer throw
- Rachel Gearing- ranked 11th in women's 800m
- Yasmin Brooks- ranked 18th in women's 100m hurdles and 24th in women's 400m hurdles
- Katie Jones- ranked 16th in women's pole vault
- Mallory Kauffman- ranked 22nd in women's shot put