BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Penn State track & field team competed in day one of the 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday. In a strong day of action, the Nittany Lions stand at third place in the men’s championship (20 points) and tied for seventh in the women’s championship (three points).
Tyler Merkley highlighted competition on day one with his school record hammer throw. The graduate student finished with a silver medal for the second consecutive season in the men’s hammer competition.
Penn State sent four track athletes to the upcoming finals in their respective events. Evan Dorenkamp and Yukichi Ishii for the men, and Maddie Ullom and Kileigh Kane for the women, qualified for Sunday’s final round in the 1500-meter run.
TRACK EVENT SUMMARY
The first track event for the Nittany Lions was the men’s 200-meter dash prelims. Savion Hebron clocked a wind-aided 21.65 (+2.1) on the men’s side then Jermecia Brown and Lauren Princz followed with a 24.23, and a 24.71, respectively.
Dorenkamp (3:45.20 Q) and Ishii (3:46.71 Q) punched the Nittany Lions’ first two tickets to Sunday’s finals in the men’s 1500-meter run with automatic qualifying times. Drew Maher placed 17th with a 3:47.95.
In the women’s 1500-meter run, Penn State qualified both Ullom (4:17.81 Q) and Kane (4:22.85 Q) to Sunday afternoon’s finals. Lea Hatcher finished 16th overall with a personal-best 4:23.17.
Sophia Toti capped off the day for the Nittany Lions with an eighth-place finish in the women’s 10,000-meter run. Toti’s 35:10.32 earned Penn State its final point of day one.
FIELD EVENT SUMMARY
Merkley led off the day for the Nittany Lions with his second-place finish in the men’s hammer throw. His 241-8 (73.67m) effort set a Penn State school record in the event. Teammate Collin Burkhart, competing in the first of his two events today, finished fifth place with a 212-0 (64.63m) throw. The duo scored a combined 12 points for Penn State in the first event of the day.
Luke Knipe followed up with a fourth-place clearance in the men’s pole vault. The Nittany Lion senior posted a season-best 17-2.25 (5.24m) to finish in the fourth spot in the conference.
In the women’s hammer throw, Jean Starr put points on the board for Penn State with a seventh-place finish thanks to a 192-2 (58.57m) throw.
Collin Burkhart…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Penn State Athletics…