UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State track & field collected five postseason awards on Thursday. Cheickna Traore and Hayley Kitching received indoor track athlete of the year recognition from both the USTFCCCA and the Big Ten, while Head Coach John Gondak was named the USTFCCCA Men's Indoor Coach of the Year.
Capping off a historic indoor season, the Nittany Lion duo of Traore and Kitching became the first Penn State teammates ever to sweep the Big Ten Indoor Track Athlete of the Year awards in the same season. Kitching's award is Penn State's women's team's fourth-ever indoor conference award and first since Shavon Greaves won in 2010. Traore's honor is the men's squad's fourth ever and first since David Lucas won on the field side in 2018. Isaiah Harris' 2017 win was the last for the Nittany Lion men on the indoor oval.
Head Coach John Gondak earned his first track Coach of the Year honor from the USTFCCCA since 2017. The honor is the 12th regional award of his Penn State tenure. Traore's regional honor is his fifth career USTFCCCA regional award, his first at the Division I level. Kitching received her first regional honor.
THE HONOREES
- Big Ten Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
- USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
Traore proved he belonged among best sprinters in the nation in his first season with Penn State. He capped off his first indoor campaign as a Nittany Lion with a runner-up finish in the men's indoor 200-meters at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, running a school record and Ivorian National record-setting 20.30. He also earned First Team All-America honors in the men's 60-meter dash with a seventh-place finish in the finals.
Before the national meet, Traore collected three conference crowns at the 2024 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field championships. The sprinter began with the 60-meter title, setting a school record with a 6.54 to win the crown. Traore then collected the 200-meter title with a Big Ten Indoor Championship meet record-setting 20.44. He finished his outing anchoring Penn State's 4x400-meter relay group to a Big Ten title with a 3:06.36. Traore was named the Big Ten Men's Track Athlete of the Championships for his performance.
- Big Ten Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
- USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
Kitching concluded her stellar sophomore campaign with a fourth-place finish in the women's 800-meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Her 2:02.16 in the event finals earned her First Team All-American honors. With her outstanding result at the national meet, Kitching became the women's team's first First Team All-American in the indoor 800-meters since Danae Rivers won the national title in 2019.
At the conference level, Kitching racked up two Big Ten titles, the first of her career, at the indoor championship meet. Kitching won the 800-meters with a 2:04.08 and then, just about an hour later, won the 600-meters with a school record-setting 1:26.97. For her performance, she was awarded Big Ten Women's Track Athlete of the Championship honors.
In her incredible 2024 indoor season, Kitching set Penn State records in the 800-meters (2:01.77), the 600-meters (1:26.97), the DMR (10:49.05), and set the second-best mark in school history in the 1,000-meters (2:42.94).
Head Coach John Gondak
- USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men's Indoor Coach of the Year
In his 10th season as head coach, and 18th on staff at Penn State, Gondak earns his second regional men's indoor head coach of the year honor following an outstanding season by the Nittany Lion men. The award marks Gondak's 12th regional accolade in his Penn State career, his seventh as head coach.
Gondak mentored the Penn State group to a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships just two weeks after the team finished third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with a school record-setting 88 team points.
The Nittany Lion men claimed four Big Ten titles and earned five All-America citations under Gondak's watch. The individual honors included four First Team accolades, highlighted by an NCAA runner-up finish for Traore in the men's 200-meters.
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