ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Penn State track & field team produced three conference medalists, including Florence Caron taking the women's 10K title, on day one of the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships at U-M Track and Field Stadium.
In her first-ever 10K, Caron paced the field, going wire-to-wire to earn Penn State's first women's 10K title since current assistant coach Kara Foster won the event in 2012. Caron's 33:04.18 is the third-fastest 10K in Penn State history. Caron and second-place finisher Sophia Toti netted the Nittany Lion women 18 team points, and have the group tied for the top spot in the conference after one day of scoring.
Penn State also scored points in multiple additional events advanced seven athletes to championships on day one of the conference meet.
MEDALISTS
Following Caron's blazing 10K mark, teammate Sophia Toti earned her second-career Big Ten 10K silver medal with a 33:20.29. Toti and Caron picked up 18 points for the Nittany Lion women.
Penn State scored eight points in its first completed event of the day, as Samaria McDonald broke the Nittany Lions' 18-year-old school record in her silver medal finish in the women's hammer throw. McDonald posted a 67.05-meter mark that toppled Jennifer Leatherman's 66.75-meter mark from 2006.
SCORING EVENTS
Hailey Zurich picked up four points for the Nittany Lions with a fifth place finish in the women's pole vault. Zurich cleared a season-best 13-4.25 (4.17m) to take fifth in the competition.
Both of Penn State's men's javelin throwers picked up points for the team. Chris Fredericks placed sixth with a 210-8 (64.21m) throw while Kevin Bartosh finished seventh with a 201-7 (61.44m) toss. The duo earned a combined five team points for the Nittany Lion men.
FINALS QUALIFIERS
Cheickna Traore breezed to the 200-meter finals, winning his heat in the event trials with a 20.79, nearly a half-second faster than the next closest finisher in heat three.
All three of the women's 1500-meter runners, Maddie Ullom (4:20.65 Q), Kileigh Kane (4:20.95 q), and Sarah Pickering (4:23.44 q) posted qualifying marks, while Ryan Watson (3:49.73 q), Kevin Haas (3:50.07 q), and Evan Dorenkamp (3:52.87 Q) all produced qualifying times on the men's side, with Dorenkamp winning heat two.
MULTI-EVENTS
After one day of heptathlon competition, Maddie Pitts stands in second place with 3275 points. Allison Spalding is currently in ninth, just six points out of a scoring spot. Pitts, a sophomore, won the heptathlon 200-meter dash and is sitting comfortably just 23 points behind the leader with three events remaining.
UP NEXT
Penn State is set to continue Big Ten Championship competition Saturday. The squad will then wrap up the conference championship meet on Sunday with multiple event finals.
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