UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State track & field delivered a head-turning first day at the NCAA First Round Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, one where three throwers qualified for the national championships and a sprinter delivered a program record.
The day began in the men’s hammer, where Collin Burkhart became the first athlete to qualify for nationals with a 221-2.00 (67.42m). The Nazareth, Pennsylvania native claimed the sixth-furthest distance for the meet and will make his first appearance at the national championships.
The men’s shot put sent the other two Nittany Lions to nationals. Dylan Lambrecht placed second for the meet with a 64-3.00 (19.58m) and Ryan Henry also qualified after throwing a 62-5.00 (19.02m), good for fifth. Both athletes will head to nationals for the first time, with Lambrecht’s distance also the fifth-furthest in program history.
Seven additional runners advanced to Friday’s competitions, which will determine who qualifies for nationals. Ajani Dwyer broke 10 seconds in the men’s 100-meter dash, recording a 9.98. Dwyer’s time was the second-fastest among the preliminaries and he improved his program record by 0.06 seconds.
The men’s 800-meter run featured five Nittany Lions, with four advancing onto Friday. Niko Schultz paced the quintet with a second-place 1:46.17, while Allon Clay came in third at 1:46.65. Yukichi Ishii placed seventh at 1:46.91, Andrew Regnier ran a 1:47.03 and Kaleb Nastari clocked a 1:48.55. Schultz, Clay, Ishii and Regnier will run again on Friday at 7:05 p.m. to determine which of them will qualify for nationals.
Jake Palermo also advanced to Friday after running a sixth-place 45.25 in the 400-meter dash, while Nick Sloff joined him after he took second with a 3:43.11 in the 1500-meter run.
Two additional Nittany Lions concluded their impressive debut campaigns in Lexington: Nolan Carey, who threw a 216-9.00 (66.08m) in men’s javelin, and Bryce Thompson, who recorded a 59-11.00 (18.26m) in shot put.
UP NEXT
Penn State resumes competition in the NCAA First Round Thursday, with the women’s hammer starting the day’s events at 10 a.m.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages: Facebook (PennStateTFXC), X and Instagram (both @pennstatetfxc). Live updates on meet day regarding weather, start times and other important notes will be posted on X.