UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State track & field was honored with two postseason awards from the Big Ten on Tuesday afternoon. Handal Roban and Hayley Kitching were named the men's and women's recipients of the conference's Freshman of the Year award, respectively, following the 2023 outdoor season.
Penn State becomes the first school in Big Ten history* to earn all four (indoor/outdoor, men's/women's) track freshman of the year honors in the same year with Roban and Kitching repeating as honorees following their wins after the conclusion of the 2023 indoor season in March. The Nittany Lions are just the third squad in conference history to earn both outdoor freshman awards, and the first since Ohio State did it in 2013.
Roban is the first male award-winner during the outdoor season for Penn State since Robby Creese won after his 2012 freshman year. Kitching becomes the Nittany Lions' first female honoree since Danae Rivers in 2017.
THE HONOREES
Handal Roban – Mid-Distance
Roban concluded his first season in the Blue & White with a third-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800-meter run, setting a personal-best 1:45.95 in the championship finals. The freshman's time puts him at fourth in school history in the event with just one year of competition under his belt.
The St. Vincent & the Grenadines native recently earned his second USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year honor following his impressive outdoor campaign.
With his newest honor, Roban sweeps the Big Ten Men's Freshman of the Year awards for the 2023 year following his win after the indoor campaign concluded in March, becoming the first Nittany Lion ever to do so.
Hayley Kitching – Mid-Distance
Kitching wrapped up her freshman season with Penn State with her first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, qualifying in the 800-meter run. Kitching finished as the Big Ten Bronze medalist in the 800 and posted the fifth-fastest 800 time in Penn State history during her initial outdoor campaign with the Nittany Lions.
Kitching becomes the first Penn State female to sweep freshman of the year honors for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in the same year.
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* The Big Ten first recorded individual postseason awards in 1988
