CHARLOTTESVILLE Va. – The Penn State track & field team concluded competition at the Virginia Challenge on Saturday with a smattering of season and personal-best marks.
"A beautiful weather day as we finished up the Virginia Challenge helped lead to some excellent performances and more personal-bests this afternoon," said Head Coach John Gondak. "The team is really trending in the right direction as we head into championship season and is really excited for the Penn Relays next weekend."
TRACK EVENT SUMMARY
Penn State's multi-event athletes' outings in the 100-meter hurdles began track action for the Nittany Lions on Saturday. Chloe Royce clocked a 14.36 while Maddie Pitts ran a 14.77.
Kylie Jacoutot recorded a 1:01.25 PR in the 400-meter hurdles for the Nittany Lion women's sprint squad. Matt DeMatteo finished sixth overall in the men's 400-meter hurdles, stopping the clock just shy of his lifetime PR at 52.38.
With a 23.74 PR, Jermecia Brown placed fourth in the women's 200-meter dash. Just behind her in fifth was teammate Zoey Goldstein at 23.81. Pitts clocked a 24.71 while Lauren Princz came through with a wind-aided 24.75w (+3.9 m/s). The wind was a factor in the men's 200-meters as well as Patrick Abel finished in 21.37w (+2.4 m/s) and Austin Gallant ran a 21.83w (+2.4 m/s).
In the women's 800-meters, Sarah Pickering finished in 2:11.02 for seventh in the open section, while Antonio Abrego also placed seventh in the men's open 800m, recording a season-best 1:51.01.
Penn State closed out its competition with the 4x400-meter relays. The women's team of Jacoutot, Brown, Victoria Vanriele, and Goldstein took home the win with a 3:39.21, the Nittany Lions' best mark of the season, a mark good for fifth in the Big Ten so far this year. The men's middle-distance team of Luke Seymour, Yukichi Ishii, Darius Smallwood, and Evan Dorenkamp clocked a 3:15.01 in the men's race.
FIELD EVENT SUMMARY
Samaria McDonald posted a 200-8 (61.16m) throw to take eighth overall in the women's hammer throw invite. McDonald recorded just one mark in her series, but performed well in an outstanding field of throwers. For the men, Dustin Swartwood recorded the second-best mark of his freshman campaign, going 177-11 (54.24m).
Both of Penn State's long jumpers set season-best marks Saturday afternoon. Emi Erekosima led off with a 23-0.5 (7.02m) leap in the men's competition while Hailey Zurich, fresh off a solid outing in the pole vault on Friday night, set a PR with a 19-0 (5.79m) best jump in the women's competition.
Isaac Osifo posted a huge season-best 6-11 (2.11m) high jump clearance to take fourth in the men's competition. His mark slots in as the sixth-best height in the Big Ten this season. Both Timothy Watson and Robert Allen cleared 6-5 (1.96m). Gwen Cudmore set a season-best mark in the women's high jump invite with a 5-5.75 (1.67m) clearance.
Dylan Lambrecht's big day in the men's shot put closed out field event action for the Nittany Lions. The junior broke 18 meters for the first time, finishing second overall in the competition with a 60-8 (18.51m) best throw. Duane Knisely recorded a 58-7.5 (17.87m) toss for fifth while Jakub Korejba placed ninth with a 56-0.5 (17.08m) throw.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions are set to return to Philadelphia for the historic Penn Relays from April 25-27.
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