UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team competed well at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 4 in the Multisport Facility and Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
"I'm very excited about our performances today," said head coach John Gondak. "We had some new athletes, that recently joined us here at mid-year, that showed with how they raced today, that they're here to make a difference with Penn state track and field. Also, we really challenged the team at dinner last night, to continue to grow and develop. And just all across the board in all the event areas, we continue to move up the rankings in the Big Ten and move up the rankings in the NCAA. We're really excited for what this team is doing right now and we're looking forward to getting on the road next week as we continue our preparation for the Big Ten Championships."
With just eleven teams competing, the Nittany Lions took time to rest some of their squad and we weren't able to see the likes of Tyler Merkley and Mallory Kauffman in the throws, but Penn State's middle-distance squad showed out in a big way.
For the second week in a row, the Nittany Lions had three marks crack the top five in school history in their respective events. Handal Roban (800m), Hayley Kitching (800m), and Callum Dodds (500m) all posted times that rewrote the Penn State history books on Saturday.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Penn State added three more marks to its record books during the Sykes & Sabock Challenge.
In his very first meet as a Nittany Lion, Callum Dodds posted the fifth-best time in school history in the men's indoor 500m with a 1:02.97. The time currently ranks as the eighth-best time in the NCAA so far this season.
In the women's 800m, first-semester freshman Hayley Kitching posted the fourth-best time in school history with a 2:04.07. Kitching joins teammate Rachel Gearing on the top-five list. The time is good for the seventh-best mark in the NCAA this season.
Joining Kitching with his second top-five time in school history in two weeks, Handal Roban ran a 1:47.01 in the men's 800m to tie Brannon Kidder for the 3rd-best time ever at Penn State. Roban's time currently stands at sixth in the NCAA this year. Roban now holds the sixth-best time in the country in both the 600m and the 800m this far into the 2022-23 campaign.
PENN STATE IN THE RANKINGS
Penn State added or improved upon six top-ten marks in the Big Ten this past week, according to TFRRS. Last weekend, the Nittany Lions added 21 marks inside the top ten in the conference and now own a total of 38 top-ten marks (21 men, 17 women) in the Big Ten.
Comprehensive list of Penn Staters who entered or improved on marks in the Big Ten Rankings this past weekend:
Women's Events
800m
- (2) Hayley Kitching (2:04.07)
- (4) Rachel Gearing (2:05.19)
Men's Events
800m
- (1) Handal Roban (1:47.01)
- (2) Darius Smallwood (1:47.90)
- (3) Carter Fitzgerald (1:48.29)
- (4) Luke Seymour (1:48.29)
The Nittany Lions loaded up the 800m fields this week and were not disappointed with the results they received.
EVENT SUMMARY
In the morning, Luke Knipe got the Nittany Lions going with a win in the pole vault. Knipe cleared the bar at 16-6.75 (5.05m) to earn the win.
In the 60m dash, the duo of Lauren Princz (7.63 PR) and Aitana Rodrigo (7.74) on the women's side, and Kristian Phennicie (6.92) on the men's side qualified for the finals. In the final round, Princz took the title with another 7.63 while Rodrigo ran a 7.71 to claim third. Phennicie crushed his personal best from earlier in the day and ran a 7.84 to finish second in the men's finals.
In the women's mile, the Nittany Lions earned a clean sweep, with Makenna Krebs (4:45.05), Madaline Ullom (4:45.93), and Libby Benzer (4:59.00 PR) claiming the top three spots in the event. Both Mary McDavid (5:07.29) and Kaylee McCullough (5:10.90) set personal bests in the race as well.
In the men's mile, Christopher DeSousa posted a personal-best 4:10.30 to finish fourth. Over on the field events, Dylan Lambrecht finished up his effort in the shot put to finish fifth with a throw of 52-11.5(16.14m)
In the middle-distance races, the Nittany Lions showed out.
Dodds ran the fifth-fastest 500m time in program history with a 1:02.91 in his first competition in a Penn State uniform. James Onwuka (48.11), Korbin Martino (48.62), and Savion Hebron (49.44) finished 1-2-4 in the 400m before Penn State rolled into the 800m.
In the women's 800m, Kitching (2:04.07) and Gearing (2:05.19) went 1-2 with Kitching claiming the fourth-best time in school history. Kitching's time lands at seventh in the NCAA with Gearing slotting in at No. 17 in the country.
On the men's side, the 1-4 of Roban (1:47.01), Smallwood (1:47.90), Fitzgerald (1:48.283), and Seymour (1:48.286) ran the four fastest times in the Big Ten conference so far this season.
Next, the women's 200m dash saw another Nittany Lion sweep with three personal bests, with Jermecia Brown (24.20), Zoey Goldstein (24.35), and Princz (24.47) finishing 1-2-3 for Penn State. Jane Madson rounded out the group with a seventh-place finish at 24.78. On the men's side Phennicie finished third with another personal best 22.09 run.
Isaac Osifo won the men's high jump competition with a 6-6.25 (1.99m) clearance on his first attempt. Teammate Joey Walker also cleared the same distance, but did so on his third attempt to finish third place.
Back on the track, Josh Lewis ran a personal best 8:19.40 to win the men's 3,000m.
Penn State wrapped up competiton on the day with a high jump win by Cecelia Bacon. The senior attempted to break the Penn State indoor record but came just shy on all three attempts. Her 5-10 (1.78m) clearance won the competition. Carlie Wilson finished third with a 5-7.75 (1.72m) jump.
The Penn State multi-event athletes Chloe Royce and Maddie Pitts competed in many of their pentathlon events throughout the day in the absence of an official pentathlon event. Royce and Pitts competed in the 60m hurdles, the shot put, and the long jump together. Pitts set a career-best mark with a 19-0.75 (5.81m) leap in the long jump to finish third overall in the event.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will hit the road in a split-squad effort next weekend. Penn State will travel athletes to the Music City Invite, hosted by Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., and will also send part of its squad to the Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University in Boston, Mass. Both events will take place from Friday, Feb. 10 to Saturday, Feb. 11.
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