CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Penn State track & field team received outstanding performances all throughout Friday's events, with five top ten program marks and an event win highlighting competition on day two of the Virginia Challenge.
Penn State's women's team added five marks to its top ten list on Friday. Freshman Maddie Pitts in the heptathlon, junior Jermecia Brown in the 100m, sophomore Allison Johnson in the 1500m, senior Tesia Thomas in the triple jump, and junior Sophia Toti in in the 10K all broke into their respective event leaderboards for the first time in their careers on Friday.
James Onwuka won the 400m on the men's side to give the Nittany Lions an event win on the day as well.
TRACK EVENT SUMMARY
Brown began the Nittany Lions' day on the track by running an 11.61 in the prelims of the women's 100-meter dash. The mark is good for sixth all-time in Penn State history and is the fastest 100-meter dash run by a Nittany Lion since 2017.
Onwuka carried on the momentum, finishing first overall in the men's 400m dash, stopping the clock at 47.25.
In the 800m, Rachel Gearing set a season-best mark, going under 2:03 for the first time this year, finishing at 2:02.98. Her time was good for second overall in the competition and also moves her up inside the top 15 in the country in the event. For the men, season-best times from Olivier Desmeules (1:48.13) and Carter Fitzgerald (1:48.65) bolstered the top-ranked 800-meter event squad in the country.
Maddie Ullom continued her strong season in the 1500m with a third-place finish in 4:17.45. Johnson came in seventh place overall with a 4:18.90 PR that ranks tenth in Penn State history. Kileigh Kane was the third Nittany Lion to cross the line, finishing in 4:21.64. For the men, Drew Maher finished 16th overall with a 3:44.83 with Yukichi Ishii (3:46.14 PR) and Jonah Powell (3:46.62) each posting solid performances as well.
In the women's 5,000m invite, Faith DeMars earned second place with a 16:02.04. Toti capped off Friday's events for the Nittany Lions with a third-place finish in the 10K in a personal-best 34:02.31, setting the No. 7 time in Penn State history.
FIELD EVENT SUMMARY
Chloe Royce and Maddie Pitts began the day for the Nittany Lions with the final three events of the heptathlon. Pitts finished all three, capping off her first career heptathlon with a 5,075 total. The tally ranks No. 9 all-time at Penn State and is the No. 3 mark in the Big Ten conference this season.
Mallory Kauffman followed with a fourth-place finish in the discus throw, going 168-2 (51.27m). For the men, Tyler Merkley claimed fifth place with a 172-3 (52.51m), with Duane Knisely coming in 11th place.
Penn State's pole vault squad showed steady improvement, with Hailey Zurich (13-5.25 (4.10m)), Luke Knipe (17-0.75 (5.20m)), and Jonathan Petersen (15-11 (4.85m)) each setting season-best marks in their respective events. Knipe finished in second place overall in the men's invite competition.
In the men's javelin, Penn State received a pair of top-five finishes, with Kevin Bartosh coming in third with a 217-1 (66.17m) throw and Collin Burkhart placing fifth with a 214-0 (65.23m) effort.
Tesia Thomas, in her first competition since January, set her outdoor PR with a 41-4.25 (12.60m) to claim the No. 10 spot in Penn State history in the event. Additionally, Thomas moves into the top ten in the Big Ten this season with her outstanding effort on Friday.
UP NEXT
Penn State will be back in action tomorrow morning to conclude its competition at the Virginia Challenge.
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