UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Track & Field's Hayley Kitching and Handal Roban each claimed Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year honors, as announced by the conference Wednesday. Kitching (women's honoree) and Roban (men's honoree) each cracked Penn State's top-five all-time list in the 800-meter run in their first indoor season in the Blue & White, and have now capped off the campaign with conference honors.
THE AUSTRALIAN SENSATION – HAYLEY KITCHING – MIDDLE DISTANCE
- Kitching became the third-straight Nittany Lion women's middle-distance runner to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors during the indoor season, following Victoria Vanriele (2021) and Allison Johnson (2022).
- Earned Second-Team All Big Ten honors for her runner-up finish in the women's 800-meter run at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
- Set the fourth-best indoor 800-meter run time in Penn State history with a 2:03.70 in her silver-medal finish at the Big Ten Championships. The time finished as the No. 25 mark in all of Division I.
- Was on two different distance medley relay teams that set top-five times in Penn State history.
THE PHENOM – HANDAL ROBAN – MIDDLE DISTANCE
- Roban recently earned First-Team All-American honors for his third-place standing in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Division I Indoor National Championships.
- FINISHED as the No. 1 freshman in the country, posting a 1:47.28 in the championship finals.
- Became the seventh indoor 800-meter First Team All-American (eight instances) in Penn State history and the first Nittany Lion 800-meter NCAA medalist since Isaiah Harris won silver in 2018.
- Earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors for his silver medal-winning performance in the 800-meter run at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
- Tied Brannon Kidder for the third-best 800-meter time in Penn State history, with his 1:47.01 qualifying time that sent him to the NCAA Championships.
- Ran a 1:16.91 in the 600-meters early in the season which now ranks as the No. 6 time in Penn State history in the event.
INDOOR SEASON AWARD ROUNDUP
NCAA & USTFCCCA First Team All-American
- Handal Roban – 800m
Big Ten Freshman of the Year
- Handal Roban (men) & Hayley Kitching (women)
All-Big Ten First Team
- Faith DeMars (women's 5,000m)
- Rachel Gearing (women's 800m)
- Olivier Desmeules (men's 800m)
All-Big Ten Second Team
- Hayley Kitching (800m)
- Handal Roban (800m)
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
- Darius Smallwood (men) & Zoey Goldstein (women)
Big Ten Athlete of the Week
- Olivier Desmeules (Twice) – Mid-Distance
- Mallory Kauffman – Shot Put
LOOKING AHEAD
The Nittany Lions return to action on Saturday, March 18, beginning their outdoor schedule with a trip to Philadelphia for the Penn Springtime Invitational.
Full Outdoor Schedule
Mar. 18 – Penn Springtime Invitational | Philadelphia, Pa.
Mar. 23-25 – Raleigh Relays | Raleigh, N.C.
Mar. 25 – Miami Invitational | Coral Gables, Fla.
Mar. 31-Apr. 1 – Florida Relays | Gainesville, Fla.
Apr. 6-8 – Duke Invitational | Durham, N.C.
Apr. 8 – LSU Invitational | Baton Rouge, La.
Apr. 15-16 – Bucknell Invite | Lewisburg, Pa.
Apr. 21-22 – Virginia Challenge | Charlottesville, Va.
Apr. 22 – Bucknell Team Challenge | Lewisburg, Pa.
Apr. 27-29 – Penn Relays | Philadelphia, Pa.
May 5 – Jim Thorpe Open | University Park, Pa.
May 12-14 – Big Ten Outdoor Championships | Bloomington, Ind.
May 24-27 – NCAA East Preliminaries | Jacksonville, Fla.
June 7-10 – NCAA Outdoor Championships | Austin, Texas
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