ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Penn State track & field team concluded competition at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships Sunday afternoon, a day highlighted by titles from Hayley Kitching in the women's 800-meters and Florence Caron in the women's 5K.
Caron completed one of the most difficult doubles in track & field, winning the 5K just two days after she took home the title in the 10K. In over nine miles of sheer dominance through the weekend, Caron became the first Penn State woman ever to win titles in the 5K and 10K in a career, let alone a championship weekend.
The Penn State women finished fifth in the conference, scoring 78 team points, the team's second-best total in the past six seasons. Minnesota earned the team title, followed by Nebraska and Ohio State. Nebraska took home the win on the men's side with Iowa and Wisconsin rounding out the top three.
MEDALISTS
Penn State's two champions highlighted its medal-winners on Sunday.
Kitching clocked a Big Ten Championships meet record 2:02.54 to earn the win in the 800-meters. The sophomore completed the indoor-outdoor 800-meter sweep with her title on Sunday afternoon.
Caron's 5K title is Penn State's second in a row at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, as teammate Faith DeMars earned the win in the event last season. The Quebec native took home the win in 15:52.39. Sophia Toti earned her second silver medal of the championships, finishing second to Caron in the 5K on Sunday afternoon after doing the same in the 10K on Friday evening. Toti crossed the line in 16:07.06
Handal Roban crossed the line in 1:48.22 in the men's 800-meters to finish third overall in the event. The sophomore has now medaled in all four Big Ten 800-meter championships that have taken place since he joined the Nittany Lions in the fall of 2022.
Cheickna Traore set a new all-conditions lifetime-best mark in the 200-meter dash, finishing second in the championship finals with a wind-aided 20.05 (+3.1 m/s). Traore's huge mark gave him another medal to add to his growing collection.
SCORING EVENTS
Penn State earned points from high jumper Isaac Osifo, who tied his personal-best mark with a 7-0.25 (2.14m) leap to take fifth place in the Big Ten.
In the women's 1500-meter final, Kileigh Kane finished eighth overall in 4:24.15 to collect a point for the Nittany Lion women.
Allison Johnson joined Kitching as a scorer in the women's 800-meter run, posting a 2:07.56 to take seventh.
Penn State's women's 4x400-meter squad of Jermecia Brown, Kitching, Victoria Vanriele, and Zoey Goldstein finished eighth in the conference with a 3:39.18. The men's team of Matt DeMatteo, Patrick Abel, Darius Smallwood, and Olivier Desmeules followed with a seventh-place finish, crossing the line in 3:08.86.
UP NEXT
Penn State will take a contingent of athletes to the NCAA East Region Preliminaries in Lexington, Kentucky March 22-25.
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