UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Big Ten Conference announced Penn State track & field's Cecelia Bacon was awarded the Big Ten Women's Field Athlete of the Week for her career-best performance in the high jump at the Hurricane Collegiate Invite on Saturday, March 25.
Bacon, a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in public policy analysis, tied the third-best high jump clearance in Penn State history on Saturday at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational. Bacon's mark of 5-11.25 (1.81m) sits at No. 3 in the NCAA this season and is the top mark in the Big Ten.
It was the second consecutive week that Bacon cracked the top-ten all-time at Penn State. Last week, her 5-10.75 (1.80m) leap tied her personal-best mark, which already ranked as the No. 6 jump in school history.
This is the first Big Ten athlete of the week award in Bacon's career and her stellar mark just two meets into the year has her primed for another appearance in the NCAA East Prelims at season's end.
It marks the second-straight week Penn State has earned a field athlete of the week honor with Tyler Merkley collecting the field honor on the men's side last week. The award is also the fifth Big Ten Track & Field athlete of the week honor for the Nittany Lions this season. Big Ten Indoor 800m Champion Olivier Desmeules earned men's track recognition twice this year, while throwers Mallory Kauffman and Merkley each have collected one apiece on the field side.
PENN STATE'S 2022-23 BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
March 29 – Cecelia Bacon – Jumps – Women's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week
March 22 – Tyler Merkley – Throws – Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week
Feb. 1 – Olivier Desmeules – Middle-Distance – Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Dec. 14 – Olivier Desmeules – Middle-Distance – Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Dec. 7 - Mallory Kauffman – Throws – Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
LOOKING AHEAD
The Nittany Lions will travel back down to Florida this weekend, this time to Gainesville for the Florida Relays. The meet is set to take place from March 31-April 1 at Percy Beard Track.
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