UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team is set to send athletes to Boston University for the Valentine Invitational and to Vanderbilt for the Music City Challenge this weekend. Both meets consist of events on Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11.
Music City Challenge Links: Friday Live Stream | Saturday Live Stream
Valentine Invite Links: Live Stats | Live Stream
The Nittany Lions plan to send their distance squad, including their men's and women's milers and men's and women's 3K runners to Boston, while the rest of the squad will head to Nashville.
The Nittany Lions earned two top-five #EventSquad marks in the most recent USTFCCCA rankings. Penn State's men's 800-meter squad of Handal Roban, Darius Smallwood, Carter Fitzgerald, and Luke Seymour slot in as the second-best 800m group in the country, trailing only Iowa State. Last week at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge, the foursome posted the top four times in the Big Ten in the event this season, with Roban leading the pack and slotting in at sixth in the country with a 1:47.01.
Penn State's women's high jump group of Cecelia Bacon, Carlie Wilson, Gwen Cudmore, and Chloe Royce currently rank as the fifth-best high jump squad in the nation. Bacon cleared the bar at 6-0 (1.83m) earlier this season to tie the Penn State program record. The mark is currently tied for 16th in all of Division I.
THE COMPETITION
Music City Challenge Performance List – Coming Soon
Valentine Invitational Performance List
Brandon Hontz and Drew Maher are set to compete in one of the largest men's mile fields in the country this season, with 499 athletes entered in the event on Friday. On the women's side, Kileigh Kane is the 30th-seeded miler in the field of 338.
In the women's 3,000-meter run, Faith DeMars slots in as the 22nd-ranked runner in the field of 340, with Makenna Krebs coming in at no. 53 and Sophia Toti at no. 70. Hontz will also compete for the Nittany Lions in the men's 3K.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
The 800-meter races last week at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge saw two top-five times in program history, both set by freshmen. For the men, Roban's 1:47.01 tied Brannon Kidder for the third-best time in school history in the event. On the women's side, Hayley Kitching posted a 2:04.07, good for fourth all-time at Penn State.
Additionally, senior Callum Dodds posted a 1:02.97 in the men's 500-meter dash to claim fifth place in Penn State history.
Penn State added three marks to its indoor record books at the Penn State National Open.
The first was the women's distance medley relay effort by 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, 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 run 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 saw two marks crack the top-five in school history at Virginia Tech. Hailey Zurich tied her own PR with the second-best pole vault clearance in program history with a 13-10.5(4.23m) effort. On the oval, Rachel Gearing recorded the third best 600-meter time in school history with a 1:29.49.
On January 14 at the Nittany Lion Challenge, Bacon posted a 1.83m/6-0 effort in the high jump to tie Alexa Parks (2020) for the indoor record at Penn State.
Additionally, two international records fell at the Nittany Lion Challenge, both in the men's 1,000m run. Yukichi Ishii set a new Japanese national indoor record with a 2:21.99, followed by Roban's St. Vincent & the Grenadines national indoor record-breaking 2:24.08.
Tyler Merkley's 21.92m/71-11 weight throw effort at the Nittany Lion Invitational increased his claim to the third-best mark in the event in Penn State history and set a new personal best.
FULL INDOOR SCHEDULE
Dec. 2-3 – Bison Opener | Lewisburg, Pa.
Dec. 10 – Blue & White Intrasquad Scrimmage | University Park, Pa.
Jan. 14 – Nittany Lion Challenge | University Park, Pa.
Jan. 20-21 – Hokie Invitational | Blacksburg, Va.
Jan. 27-28 – Penn State National Open | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 4 – Sykes & Sabock Challenge | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 10-11 – Music City Invitational | Nashville, Tenn.
Feb. 10-11 – Valentine Invite | Boston, Mass.
Feb. 17 – Penn State Tune Up | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 18 – Alex Wilson Invite | South Bend, Ind.
Feb. 24 – Big Ten Indoor Championships | Geneva, Ohio
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and Twitter/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).
