EUGENE, Ore - Hayley Kitching of the Penn State Track and Field team posted the second-fastest time in NCAA Women’s 800-meter history, clocking a 1:57.65 to earn a national runner-up finish and First-Team All-American honors on Saturday evening at Hayward Field.
Kitching’s 1:57.65 mark dips under Athing Mu’s previous NCAA all-time record of 1:57.73 set in 2021. Kitching finished second to Arkansas’s Sanu Jallow, who set a new collegiate record of 1:56.85 to win the national title.
Kitching shaved 2.28 seconds off her NCAA semifinal 800m time of 1:59.93. She also improved her then-personal best of 1:59.15, set at the NCAA East Regionals, by 1.50 seconds. The 1:59.15 marked her first career sub-2:00 performance and placed her second overall to qualify for the NCAA Championships.