Despite some inclement weather, the Penn State women's outdoor track team started its season off on a positive note, earning several NCAA regional-qualifying times at the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State.
The Nittany Lions got school-record performances from junior Chi-Chi Aduba in the long jump and sophomore Kate Johnston in the hammer throw, with Aduba capturing the long jump title. Senior Deshaya Williams also took home a first-place finish by winning the discus with at throw of 174-11.
The weather could have been a major factor in the performances of some of the athletes. All the throwers worked with the officials pouring water into the throwing circle so the conditions would be the same for all the athletes. Neither Williams nor Johnston seemed to be affected by it.
With a throw of 184-00, Johnston broke her own record of 179-9 set as a freshman at the U.S. Junior National Championships. Her record-breaking toss was good for fourth place in the event.
"I think of this as a stepping stone," Johnston said. "I hope I can just build from there."
Aduba continued her own mark-setting ways from the indoor season, tying Shakeema Walker's school record of 20-10 3/4 set in 1999.
Nearly two-thirds of the roster competed in the relays that featured over 3,000 athletes, a decent measuring stick for the team's first outdoor competition. The plethora of runners, jumpers and throwers included the unattached, more seasoned athletes from all over who are sponsored by companies like Nike, making the races a bit more challenging.
"We looked a little rusty in some things," Penn State women's track and field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "But we're going to look a little rusty at the end of March. We got our feet wet at a large meet."
In addition, the Lions also got strong performances from junior Sara Dougherty, in the pole vault, and freshman Tracey Brauksieck in the 5,000-meter run, respectively.
Despite the rain delays that made the event come to abrupt halts throughout the day, Dougherty nabbed a third-place finish with a mark of 12-00.
Brauksieck also turned in an impressive performance, running a time of 16:46.25.
She earned eighth-place honors with only two unattached runners ahead of her.
This week a strenuous amount of work will be put forth to continue to get rid of the rust of the winter season and help the team to continue adjusting. Despite the climate troubles of the relays, the temperature in Happy Valley had been working for the team until yesterday.
"Hopefully Mother Nature will be kind to us and let us use the outdoor facility," Alford- Sullivan said.
The portion of the team that did not travel to Raleigh competed in the Jim Thorpe Invitational at home and was coached by the volunteer staff.
The meet consisted of opponents from Lehigh and St. Francis. The meet enabled the entire roster to get involved in some sort of competition.
"We got some of the kinks out this week," Alford-Sullivan said.
"I think everything went pretty well."
