UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team performed well in its season-opening weekend at Bucknell and Boston.
"It was a great start to the season today for Penn State Track and Field," said Head Coach John Gondak. "We had performances that show we are in mid-season form to start the year. Proud of what we did today and looking forward to our Blue & White meet next week!"
At the Bison Opener, the Nittany Lions earned five event victories, setting two facility records in Bucknell's Gerard Fieldhouse. Maddie Pitts, Hailey Zurich, Jermecia Brown, Mallory Kauffman, and Tesia Thomas all kicked off the 2023-24 indoor season with wins in their respective events, with Pitts and Brown setting personal-best marks.
In Boston at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Penn State's athletes ran well, setting personal-best 3K marks in competition at Boston University.
BISON OPENER TRACK EVENT SUMMARY
Brown impressed in the 60-meter dash, finishing first overall in qualifying and taking the top overall spot in the finals with a Gerard Fieldhouse record-setting 7.44. Brown's mark set her own PR in the process. Teammate Zoey Goldstein finished fifth in the finals with a 7.64 PR.
BISON OPENER FIELD EVENT SUMMARY
On Friday night, four Nittany Lion women competed in the pentathlon. Pitts won the event with a personal-best 3,791 points. Allison Spalding, competing in her first pentathlon, finished second overall with 3,397 points.
In the first field event on Saturday, Alex Pancoast made her Penn State debut and finished fourth overall in the weight throw, going 51-7 (15.72m).
Zurich made a splash in the second event of the day, winning the pole vault title and setting the Gerard Fieldhouse record with a 13-7.25 (4.15m) clearance. Teammate Victoria Atkinson made her Penn State debut with a second-place finish, clearing the bar at 12-9.5 (3.90m). Zurich added to her impressive day with a second-place standing in the long jump with a 19-1.5 (5.83m) leap.
Kauffman won the shot put with a 53-9.25 (16.39m) throw, earning the win in her first NCAA action since finishing as an All-American at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
In the Nittany Lions' final event of the evening, Thomas earned Penn State's fifth and final event win with a 40-7.5 (12.38m) leap. Lizzie Schreiber finished fourth.
SHARON COLYEAR-DANVILLE SEASON OPENER SUMMARY
The tandem of Kileigh Kane and Florence Caron traveled to Boston's season-opening meet for competition in the 3K on Saturday afternoon. Kane clocked a 9:15.29 personal best to place 26th out of 86 finishers. Caron came in at 9:31.93 for 45th overall in her first indoor race at Penn State.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will host their annual Blue & White Intrasquad scrimmage on Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 9. Penn State will resume its regular season action on January 13 when they put on the Nittany Lion Challenge at home in the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter Indoor Track.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).
