UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track and field teams conclude the regular season and compete in their final tune-up before next week's Big Ten Championships Friday when the Nittany Lions host the Jim Thorpe Invitational.
Friday's competition is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. on the field with the men's javelin throw. Action on the track is set to begin at approximately 3 p.m. with the men's 3000-meter steeplechase.
The team will also honor the graduating seniors for Senior Day.
HOW TO FOLLOW/LIVE RESULTS
LIVE RESULTS- https://pttiming.com/event.php?mid=524
A LOOK BACK
The Nittany Lions put on a spectacular showing in their return to the 126th Penn Relays last weekend at Franklin Field, as the team collected two championship relay wheels and five total event victories.
Tyler Merkley got the first win of the weekend for the Nittany Lions on Thursday when he won the college men's hammer throw championship with a mark of 69.13m (226-9). In his Penn Relays debut, freshman Collin Burkhart also won the college men's hammer throw with a new personal-best toss of 64.65m (212-1).
Friday's action saw the women's sprint medley relay team of Jane Madson, Yasmin Brooks, Rachel Gearing and Victoria Tachinski run a relay time of 3:48.47 to win the College Women's Sprint Medley Championship of America, which stands as the fourth-fastest time in program history.
Adding to the individual-event victories, Chloe Royce came out on top of the college women's long jump with a wind-assisted (+3.3) leap of 6.12m (20-1) to mark a new season-best performance.
The women's 4x800 relay team closed out the weekend by winning the women's 4x800 Championship of America race with a program-record setting time of 8:24.49, to take the second wheel for Penn State. The relay team of Victoria Vanriele (2:08.37), Rachel Gearing (2:04.27), Madaline Ullom (2:06.92), and Victoria Tachinski (2:04.95) broke the previous record time of 8:25.49 set in 2017, and the mark currently stands as the fastest in the NCAA this outdoor season.
HIGH-RANKING NITTANY LIONS
Following last weekend, here are the Penn State athletes currently ranked among the top 25 in the nation for their respective events, via TFRRS and the USTFCCCA:
- Tyler Merkley- ranked seventh in men's hammer throw
- Katie Jones- ranked 14th in women's pole vault
- Victoria Tachinski- ranked 16th in women's 800m
- Madaline Ullom- ranked 18th in women's 1500m
- Yasmin Brooks- ranked 18th in women's 100m Hurdles
- Mallory Kauffman- ranked 19th in women's shot put