Track & Field Qualifies 30 Individuals, One Relay for NCAA Competition

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – 30 individual competitors and one relay team from the Penn State track & field squad qualified for the 2023 NCAA Track & Field Championships, as announced by the NCAA on Thursday. The group will begin competition at the East Regional Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla. on Wednesday, May 24, with events running through Saturday, May 27.
 
Penn State’s women’s squad qualified 14 individuals who will take part in 15 events across the four-day meet in Jacksonville. Mallory Kauffman, the 11^th-ranked athlete in the shot put and the 32^nd-ranked athlete in the discus throw, will compete in two events for the Nittany Lions. Faith DeMars enters the 5K at seventh in the region, the highest-ranked individual qualifier for the Penn State women. Hayley Kitching (800) and Audrey Friedman (javelin throw) will represent the Nittany Lions’ true freshman class at this year’s prelims in their first season with the Blue & White.
 
On the men’s side, the group will send 16 individuals and one relay squad to compete in Florida this year. Tyler Merkley (hammer, discus), Collin Burkhart (hammer, javelin), and Callum Dodds (800, 4×400 relay) are all slated to go in multiple events for Penn State. Merkley won last season’s hammer throw competition at the prelims and is primed to compete for the top spot yet again as the third-ranked hammer thrower in this year’s field. Handal Roban (800), Carter Fitzgerald (800), Austin Gallant (4×400), and Tim Watson (high jump) all head to their first preliminary round as true freshmen for the Nittany Lions.
 
NCAA East Preliminary participants will compete for a shot to move on to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas. The top 12 in each event and relay at the prelims will earn their chance to compete for a championship in Texas.
 
NCAA QUALIFIERS
 
Below are the Penn State athletes who have qualified for the 2023 NCAA East Prelims, along with their regional seed and qualifying mark from this season.
 
Women’s Team
 
800 Meters

1,500 Meters

• 21 – Maddie Ullom – 4:16.05
• 24 – Kileigh Kane – 4:16.66

5,000 Meters

10,000 Meters

Steeplechase

High Jump

Pole Vault

Shot Put

Discus Throw

Hammer Throw

Javelin Throw

 
Men’s Team
 
800 Meters

1,500 Meters

Steeplechase

4×400-Meter Relay

High Jump

Pole Vault

Shot Put

Discus Throw

Hammer…