UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team's outing on day one of the Penn State National Open was highlighted by a flat-out dominant 800-meter run by sophomore Hayley Kitching.
Kitching clocked a 2:01.77 in the 800-meters, beating the Penn State school record by over a full second and taking over the collegiate lead in 2024. The reigning Big Ten Women's Track Athlete of the Week won the race by over three seconds.
Not to be outdone, milers Florence Caron (4:33.95) and Kileigh Kane (4:35. 88) set the No. 2 and No. 3 marks in Penn State history in their event as well.
Tesia Thomas claimed Penn State's second event win of the day, earning the win in the women's long jump with a 19-11.5 (6.08m) mark.
TRACK EVENT SUMMARY
Penn State took the track first in the 60-meter events. Jermecia Brown (7.58) and Lauren Princz (7.69) posted solid times in the event.
The milers toed the line next, with the women earning the aforementioned two top-five program marks. Maddie Ullom (4:38.86) Makenna Krebs (4:42.47) and Lea Hatcher (4:42.69) each set personal-best marks with sub 4:45 times in an outstanding event for the Nittany Lion women. On the men's side, Evan Dorenkamp went 3:58.63, breaking the 4:00 barrier in his first mile of the season. PRs from Ryan Watson (4:03.53) and Kevin Haas (4:04.57) rounded out the top three finishers for the Nittany Lions in a field where eleven runners clocked sub-4:00 times.
Kitching dominated the 800-meters in Penn State's next track event, setting the school record with a 2:01.77 in her victory. Victoria Vanriele went 2:09.09 to finish eleventh in a field of 42 runners. For the men, three Nittany Lions went sub-1:49, including a 1:48.85 PR by true freshman Kaleb Nastari. Olivier Desmeules finished fourth with a 1:47.40 and Handal Roban claimed fifth overall with a 1:47.74. Yukichi Ishii (1:49.57) and Luke Seymour (1:49.93) made it five Penn State runners under the 1:50 benchmark.
The Penn State women wrapped up their day with a 2-3 finish in the 5K. Charlotte Costich claimed second with a 16:58.80 while Kaylee McCullough set her PR with a 17:03.78 in third place.
FIELD EVENT SUMMARY
Alex Pancoast got the field events going for Penn State, recording a 52-4.5 (15.96m) effort in the women's weight throw. For the men, Collin Burkhart continued to post solid numbers, recording a 64-7.75 (19.70m) throw to finish tied for fifth.
In the men's pole vault, Tristan McGarrah set his PR, clearing 16 feet for the first time, going 16-0.75 (4.90m) for sixth overall. Meredith Baham finished second in the women's pole vault, recording an 11-11.75 (3.65m) clearance.
Thomas took home the women's triple jump title with her 6.08m leap while freshman Lizzie Schreiber jumped 17-8.75 (5.40m) for 11th. For the men, Emi Erekosima jumped 22-7.75 (6.90m) to finish ninth overall.
MULTI-EVENTS
Maddie Pitts set her pentathlon PR, scoring 3,857 points in her second-place finish. Pitts finished second in the long jump (5.67m) and third in the shot put (11.55m) to help her to her achieve her career-best point total.
In the heptathlon, Camden Kirker wrapped up the first four events on day one, highlighted by a third-place high jump finish (1.85m) and a fifth-place shot put result (11.89m). Kirker will resume his heptathlon tomorrow morning.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions return to action in the Penn State National Open tomorrow morning with competition in the men's heptathlon set to resume at 10 a.m.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).