LEXINGTON, Ky. – Hayley Kitching punched her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the women's 800-meters Saturday evening in the final day of NCAA East Regional competition at the UK Track & Field Complex.
Penn State concluded its weekend with six total entries qualified to the NCAA Championships, including four first time qualifiers to the outdoor meet in Cheickna Traore, Florence Caron, Yukichi Ishii, and Pat Abel. Handal Roban, Hayley Kitching, and Olivier Desmeules have competed in the championships for the Nittany Lions in previous seasons.
TICKETS PUNCHED
Sophomore Hayley Kitching dropped a 2:01.43 in the 800-meter quarterfinals to win her heat and punch her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second consecutive season.
ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES
Maddie Ullom finished 22nd in the region in the women's 1500-meter run, clocking a 4:17.88. Kileigh Kane finished just ahead of her teammate in heat one, posting a 4:16.57 to take 21st overall. The Nittany Lion duo concluded outstanding seasons with their trips to the NCAA quarterfinals.
In the steeplechase, Makenna Krebs ran well in a loaded field of runners. The Nittany Lion crossed the line in 10:17.16 to finish 16th in the region, just four spots from an NCAA Championships-qualifying mark.
After advancing to Eugene in the 10K on Thursday night, Florence Caron came just four seconds short of a second punched ticket in the 5K Saturday night. Caron crossed the line in 15:55.81, finishing 13th in the region.
UP NEXT
Penn State's qualifying athletes will rest up for a week before making the trip to Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships which are slated to take place June 5-8 at Hayward Field.
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