UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team turned in an excellent performance at the Nittany Lion Challenge at the Multi-Sport Facility and Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track on Saturday.
The team collected many personal bests throughout competition on Saturday, finishing with 14 event victories and six top-five marks in school history.
Cheickna Traore clocked the fastest 400m dash run in the world in 2024, stopping the clock in 46.50 to set a new PR and claim the third-fastest 400 time in Penn State history. Victoria Vanriele (W 600m), Patrick Abel (M 60m), Hayley Kitching (W 1000m) Victoria Atkinson (W pole vault), and Collin Burkhart (M weight throw) also earned top-five marks in school history in their respective events.
TRACK EVENT SUMMARY
In the women's mile, Florence Caron finished in first with a time of 4:43.28 while Zoe Duffus came in third in a personal-best 4:53.14. In the men's mile, Ryan Watson claimed first with his time of 4:04.83. Caiden Leen followed close behind and finished third with 4:08.62.
Vanriele won the women's 600m with a 1:29.27 PR. The men went 2-3-4 in the event with Olivier Desmeules (1:16.96), Darius Smallwood (1:16.97), and Handal Roban (1:17.51) crossing the line as Penn State's top finishers.
Chloe Royce's time of 8.66 in the first round of 60m hurdles qualified her for the finals where she finished fourth with a time of 8.70.
In the 60m dash, Lauren Princz ran a 7.64 which qualified her for the finals where she ran a 7.56 to finish fourth overall. For the men, Patrick Abel's 6.82 moved him to the finals where he also finished fourth with a 6.72, setting a PR.
Kylie Jacoutot earned fourth with a time of 57.26 in the women's 400m. On the men's side, Traore ran a 46.50 PR, the fastest time in the world this year. The Nittany Lions also took home second and third on the men's side with Austin Gallant (47.42) and James Onwuka (47.52) finishing second and third, respectively.
The women had an excellent turnout on the 1000m with Kitching coming in first with 2:42.92. The rest of the women's squad went 3-4-5-6 with Maddie Ullom (2:44.98), Kileigh Kane (2:46.14), Lea Hatcher (2:47.26), and Makenna Krebs (2:49.11), all recording PRs. The performances were stellar on the men's side as well. Yukichi Ishii took first with 2:22.12, Evan Dorenkamp (2:22.42) finished second, Kaleb Nastari (2:23.13 PR) placed third, and Kevin Haas (2:23.14 PR) finished fourth.
In the men's 800m dash, Jonah Powell posted a 1:51.70 earning him first place. Jacob Smith finished third with a time of 1:52.26.
Jermecia Brown finished first in the women's 200m dash with a time of 24.15. Zoey Goldstein finished on her heels and received second for her time of 24.26, a personal best. Korbin Martino took home third for the men posting a 21.65.
During the 4x400m, the women's team of Brown, Kitching, Vanriele, and Goldstein finished first with a time of 3:41.10. Penn State's men's 4x400 squad earned the win as well with the group of Gallant, Martino, Desmeules, and Matt DeMatteo earning the win in 3:12.72.
FIELD EVENT SUMMARY
In the women's shot put, Mallory Kauffman took second place with a throw of 53-8.5 (16.37m). For the men, Lucciano Pizarro threw a 59-9.5 (18.22m) to finish fourth.
In the long jump, Tesia Thomas took home second with a top jump of 18-9.5 (5.72m) while Chloe Royce followed close behind with 18-7.25 (5.67m).
Tristan McGarrah came in third in the men's pole vault with a clearance of 15-7 (4.75m), narrowly missing a personal-best clearance. Victoria Atkinson took home the victory for women's pole vault and set a personal best with a clearance of 13-8.5 (4.18m).
Emi Erekosima took home second in the men's triple jump with a 46-10.25 (14.28m). On the women's side, Thomas returned back to the runway and earned the win with a 40-7.75 (12.39m) while Lizzie Schreiber fifth with 39-8 (12.09m).
In the men's high jump, Timothy Watson came in first clearing 6-11 (2.11m) while Isaac Osifo finished second, clearing the same height. Both of Penn State's high jumpers set personal bests.
In the women's weight throw, Alex Pancoast threw a personal best of 54-10 (16.71m) earning her fourth overall. Collin Burkhart won for the men throwing a personal-best 66-10.5 (20.38m) on his final throw of the day.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach John Gondak
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will travel to Michigan to compete in the Simmons-Harvey Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 20.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).