BOSTON – The Penn State track & field team had an outstanding weekend at the Valentine Invite. Faith DeMars broke the Penn State record in the indoor 3,000-meter run with a 9:00.94 on Friday evening and Brandon Hontz broke four minutes in the mile a day later and claimed the fifth-best mile time in Penn State history in the process.
Penn State sent a small squad, just five members of the team, to compete in Boston. Kileigh Kane, Makenna Krebs, and Drew Maher traveled with DeMars and Hontz to compete at the Valentine Invite.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
DeMars broke Penn State's indoor 3,000-meter record by nearly seven seconds. Tessa Barrett's 9:07.22 was the previous record that had stood since 2017.
Graduate student Brandon Hontz, in his sixth year with the Penn State program, broke four minutes in the mile for the first time in his career on Saturday. His 3:59.13 was good enough to crack the top-five indoor times in school history, landing him at fifth place all-time.
PENN STATE IN THE RANKINGS
DeMars' 3K time slots in at no. 2 in the Big Ten, with teammates Kileigh Kane (no. 11) and Makenna Krebs (no. 15) already occupying spots inside the top-15 in the conference.
The time also cracked the NCAA top-25 in the event, as DeMars is now ranked no. 22 in all of Division I in the 2022-23 indoor season.
Hontz's 3:59.13 comes in at no. 4 in the Big Ten, based on times entering competition on Saturday. Fellow miler Drew Maher turned in a personal-best 4:02.38, slotting him in at no. 7 in the conference.
EVENT SUMMARY
Kane was the first runner to compete for the Nittany Lions on Friday and posted a 4:43.13 in the women's mile run.
Later in the evening, DeMars and Krebs took to the track for the women's 3K. DeMars broke the school record with a 9:00.94 while Krebs posted a 9:33.05, just a few seconds off of her personal best.
Saturday evening saw the men's mile duo of Brandon Hontz and Drew Maher compete in a massive field of nearly 500 runners. Hontz (3:59.13) and Maher (4:02.38) both laid down personal-best times in the event, capping off a successful weekend for Penn State in Boston.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will return to Happy Valley for the Penn State Tune-Up on Feb. 17. The meet will serve as the final regular season meet for the Nittany Lions before they travel to Geneva, Ohio for the Big Ten Championships, which will take place from Feb. 24-25.
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