INDIANAPOLIS – Penn State men’s track and field posted a second-place team finish Saturday as the Big Ten Indoor Championships wrapped up at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The Nittany Lions scored 96 points, the most in program history, and finished in the top two of the final standings for the first time since 2017.
Between the men’s and women’s teams combined, Penn State secured three individual Big Ten champions, six all-conference honorees, and 10 medalists on the final day of competition. Handal Roban led a 1-2-3 sweep for the men with his title in the 800m, while Hayley Kitching won gold in the same event for the women. The men added a second conference title with Ryan Henry winning gold in the shot put.
The Penn State men turned in one of the biggest turnarounds in conference history, jumping 10 spots and scoring 71 points more than it did at last year’s Big Ten Indoor Championships.
“What a weekend for Penn State Track and Field in Indianapolis! We had numerous Big Ten champions, scorers, and personal bests,” said Penn State head coach John Gondak. “I was really excited about the energy both groups brought to the competition. Penn State was loud and proud in the house and it really showed on the men's side with our second-place team finish. We battled hard all weekend and I’m really proud of both teams.”
MEDALISTS
M 800
Handal Roban claimed first in the men’s 800m, securing an All-Big Ten finish with a time of 1:46.44, leading a group of Penn State runners that took the top three spots. Allon Clay also earned All-Big Ten recognition with a runner-up finish, while Niko Schultz took third. The Nittany Lions actually had four runners score in the race. Yukichi Ishii placed eighth after a late fall in the final.
M Shot Put
Ryan Henry came through with the third-best throw in program history to become a Big Ten champion in the shot put. The winning distance of 65-5 (19.94m) came on his second throw of the day. Henry is Penn State’s first men’s champion in the shot put since Darrell Hill in 2015. He jumped eight places from his 10th-place finish just one season ago.
W 800
Hayley Kitching raced in from the outside lanes to grab the lead on the rail and went wire-to-wire on her way to gold, doing so with a meet-record time of 2:00.05. She smashed the previous record of 2:03.19, which was set by Kitching in the trials just the day before. Penn State took two of the top four spots in the race as freshman Boh Ritchie was fourth.
M 600m
Roban added another All-Big Ten honor with a second-place finish in the 600m, crossing the line in 1:15.59. It was another race that Penn State picked up a large number of points as Clay was fourth in Schultz took sixth.
M 400M
Jake Palermo made All-Big Ten with a runner-up finish in a close race in the 400m. He clocked a 45.73, coming in just behind the winning time of 45.62 while just narrowly beating the third-place runner in a photo finish.
M High Jump
Trip Campbell came up big in the high jump, clearing a personal-best 7-0 ½ (2.15m) to take the bronze.
M 60m
Ajani Dwyer took home the bronze after finishing with a 6.55 in the 60-meter dash.
M 200m
Dwyer later added a second bronze, grabbing third place in the 200m with a time of 20.54.
INDIVIDUAL EVENT POINT SCORERS (ALL DAYS)
MEN’S
Handal Roban – 18 points
800m – 10 points
600m – 8 points
Allon Clay – 13 points
800m – 8 points
600m – 5 points
Nick Sloff – 11 points
5000m – 6 points
3000m – 5 points
Ryan Henry – 10 points
Shot Put
Niko Schultz – 9 points
800m – 6 points
600 m – 3 points
Jake Palermo – 8 points
400m – 8 points
Trip Campbell – 6 points
High Jump – 6 points
Ajani Dwyer – 12 points
60m – 6 points
200m – 6 points
Yukichi Ishii – 1 point
800m – 1 point
WOMEN’S
Hayley Kitching – 10 points
800m – 10 points
Maddie Pitts – 6 points
Pentathlon – 6 points
Boh Ritche – 5 points
800m – 5 points
Skye Petrie-Cameron – 2 points
Shot Put – 2 points
Ada Rand – 2 points
Mile – 2 points
Hannah Riolo – 1 point
High Jump – 1 point
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Skye Petrie-Cameron
W Shot Put – 4th in program history (53-11.75)
Hayley Kitching
W 800m – Meet record, Facility record (2:00.55)
Ryan Henry
M Shot Put – 3rd in program history (65-5)
Jake Palermo, Peyton Sommers, Matt DeMatteo, Max DeAngelo
M 4x400 — 10th in program history (3:08.25)
UP NEXT
The NCAA Indoor Championships take place in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 13-14.
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