UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team finished competition at the Penn State National open with three top-five times in school history on day two of the event.
"We were really excited to host the National Open this weekend here at home," head coach John Gondak said. "This year we had a lot of great teams come back—some for the first time as well—and when you get a lot of great teams together, it produces some great performances, and we're really thankful for our guests this weekend that helped us host an amazing competition."
The Nittany Lions cracked into the program record books and set multiple top Big Ten marks during the course of the two-day competition.
"We started off the weekend with about 25 people in the program ranked inside the top ten in the Big Ten and we're leaving here with many more after the performances that they had this weekend," Gondak remarked. "The team really took advantage of having some great people to race against and we put together a really fantastic weekend for Penn State track & field."
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Penn State added three marks to its record books on day two of the Penn State National Open
The first was the women's distance medley relay effort by Hayley Kitching, Zoey Goldstein, Maddie Ullom, and Kileigh Kane. The foursome collectively ran a 11:04.43 to claim second place in school history.
In the men's 600m, Handal Roban ran a blistering 1:16.91 to etch his name into fourth place in Penn State's indoor record books. Roban joins the likes of Nittany Lion legends Isaiah Harris and Casimir Loxsom on the distinguished list.
Finally, Faith DeMars posted a 9:10.45 in the women's 3,000m to become the third-fastest Nittany Lion ever in the event. DeMars joined Tori Gerlach, Bridget Franek, and Tessa Barrett as the only Nittany Lions. In history to break 9:11.00 in the event.
PENN STATE IN THE RANKINGS
Penn State added or improved upon 21 top-ten Big Ten marks this weekend alone. For the men, the Nittany Lions now own the top spots in the 600m, the 800m, and the distance medley relay. On the women's side, Penn State now leads the conference in the mile, the 3,000m, the distance medley relay, and the pentathlon.
Comprehensive list of Penn Staters who entered the Big Ten Rankings this past weekend:
Men's Events
600m
- (1) Handal Roban (1:16.91)
- (2) Daruis Smallwood (1:16.99)
- (4) Carter Fitzgerald (1:17.31)
800m
- (1) Olivier Desmeules (1:48.47)
- (2) Darius Smallwood (1:48.60)
- (3) Yukichi Ishii (1:48.80)
- (4) Handal Roban (1:49.01)
Mile
- (6) Brandon Hontz (4:02.20)
5,000m
- (2) Hayden Healey (14:30.61)
- (3) Behailu Bekele-Arcuri (14:35.26)
4x400m Relay
- (6) James Onwuka, Savion Hebron, Carter Fitzgerald, Korbin Martino (3:12.34)
Distance Medley Relay
- (1) Yukichi Ishii, James Onwuka, Olivier Desmeules, Brandon Hontz (9:35.51)
Triple Jump
- (8) Lance Hamilton (50-2.5(15.30m))
Weight Throw
- (8) Collin Burkhart (65-10.25(20.07m))
Women's Events
800m
- (3) Hayley Kitching (2:06.39)
Mile
- (1) Kileigh Kane (4:38.40)
3,000m
- (1) Faith DeMars (9:10.45)
5,000m
- (3) Sophia Toti (16:31.67)
- (10) Libby Benzer (17:32.01)
Distance Medley Relay
- (1) Hayley Kitching, Zoey Goldstein, Madaline Ullom, Kileigh Kane (11:04.43)
Pentathlon
- (1) Chloe Royce (3,925)
Many of the Nittany Lions additional top marks were already stationed atop the conference leaderboards before this group added to the list this weekend.
EVENT SUMMARY
In the morning, Jane Madson kicked off competition for the Nittany Lions with a season-best 56.02 in the unseeded women's 400m dash. Penn State's sprint squad continued in the 200m, with a fourth-place finish by Jermecia Brown (24.52) highlighting the performance.
In the men's high jump, Isaac Osifo cleared 6-8(2.03m) to finish fifth. As the field events continued, Duane Knisely took home second place in the men's shot put with a season-best 56-10.25 throw. Dylan Lambrecht set his career high with a 54-10.75(16.73m) throw to finish fifth.
Next came the record-breaking women's distance medley relay. Kitching, Goldstein, Ullom, and Kane posted a 11:04.43 to claim the number two spot on Penn State's all-time indoor leaderboard. In the men's DMR, Desmeules, Ishii, Onwuka, and Hontz collectively ran a 9:35.51 to finish second in the event.
Hebron posted a season-best 48.86 in the 400m before more records were broken in the men's 600m run. In addition to Roban's 1:16.91 PR that ranks fourth all-time at Penn State, Smallwood (1:16.99) and Fitzgerald (1:17.31) each set PRs in a 1-2-3 sweep of the event for the Nittany Lions.
Zoe Duffus ran her first collegiate 1,000m race and posted a 2:51.82 to take seventh place.
Hailey Zurich finished off her afternoon in the women's pole vault with a 13-5.25(4.10m) clearance to take second place overall. Continuing in the field events, State College's own Lance Hamilton posted a 50-2.5(15.3m) leap to win first place in the men's triple jump.
Back on the track, Martino posted Penn State's fastest 200m effort of the season, a 21.68, to take fourth.
In the women's 3,000m, DeMars then etched her name into the third spot in the Penn State indoor record books with a 9:10.45.
Following the distance events, Mallory Kauffman claimed her fourth win this season in the women's shot put with a throw of 54-7.25(16.64m).
Penn State would wrap up competition with the 4x400m relays. The women, featuring Victoria Vanriele, Jermecia Brown, Goldstein, and Madson, posted a 3:44.85 to finish fifth. The Nittany Lions closed out the evening with a bang, as Onwuka, Hebron, Fitzgerald, and Martino claimed first place in the men's relay with a 3:12.34.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will be back in action at home next weekend when they host the Sykes & Sabock Invitational at the Multisport Facility and Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track on Saturday, February 4.
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