JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Penn State men’s track and field teams finished the first day of the NCAA East Regional Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla. with four athletes advancing to the quarterfinals.
QUARTERFINAL QUALIFIERS
A trio of Nittany Lions qualified for the quarterfinals in the men’s 800-meter race.
Olivier Desmeules earned a fourth-place finish, clocking in at 1:47.15 to set a new outdoor personal best. Handal Roban finished in fifth place behind Desmeules in 1:47.20. Allon Clay, fresh off a Big Ten title in the 800-meter, rounded out Penn State's quarterfinal qualifiers after finishing in 12th place at 1:47.73.
Freshman Jake Palermo advanced to the quarterfinals in the men’s 400-meter race with a 10th-place finish after clocking in at 45.88 to move him up to the No. 3 spot on the all-time program list.
ADDITIONAL EVENT PERFORMANCES
Penn State kicked off competition at the preliminaries with the men’s hammer throw. Nathan Williams capped off his senior season with a 61.53m (201-10) throw while Collin Burkhart recorded a 61.12m (200-6) heave.
Nick Sloff finished the men’s 1500-meter race at a time of 3:43.59.
Darius Smallwood finished the men’s 800-meter race at a time of 1:48.76.
UP NEXT
The Penn State women's team begins action in the NCAA East Regional Prelims on Thursday, May 29, beginning with the javelin throw at 2:30 p.m.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).