It was one of the larger-scale meets of the season and the Penn State women's outdoor track team pulled off one of its best performances to date. The Nittany Lions earned 14 NCAA regional qualifying marks and broke two records this past weekend at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn.

"We had a tremendous weekend," Penn State women's track and field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "After a couple of weeks, it was our time."

Leading the way was sophomore Molly Landreth, who broke away from the pack in the invitational 3,000-meter steeplechase. Her time of 10:21.83 was good enough for her to earn first place and for her to break four records and make them her own. Landreth claimed the Penn State record, the Sea Ray Relays record, the Tom Black Track record, and the Tom Black collegiate record.

"It was one of the highlights," Alford-Sullivan said of Landreth's performance. "She was running at a whole new level and crushed the school and facility record."

Sophomore Kate Johnston broke her own school record in the hammer throw for the second week in a row with a toss of 197-3 feet. Her mark earned her fifth place and a trip to the regional meet.

Other standout performances came from junior Chi Chi Aduba, who qualified for the NCAA Regional meet with her showing in the triple jump. Aduba's jump of 20-6 1/4 feet earned her third-place honors.

The throwers continued to make their presence known with more strong performances across the board. In the shot put, juniors Ja'nai O'Connor and Lexi Benamati and senior Deshaya Williams earned regional qualifying marks, placing second, sixth and 12th, respectively.

The relay teams also competed well. The distance medley took second and the 4-by-100-meter team brought home fourth. The 4-by-200-meter relay team, comprised of freshman Sara Shoaff, juniors Connie Moore and Aduba and senior Laurie Fox, grabbed fourth place with a NCAA regional qualifying time of 1:37.27.

Alford-Sullivan was pleased with her team's achievements this weekend as it continues to rack up event championships and regional qualifying times.

"This is one of the best overall performances from a PSU track and field team," Alford-Sullivan said. "It was just a great environment for track and field."

In the weeks to come, the team hopes to continue stepping up its level of competition as the meets and the opposition get more and more challenging. A small portion of the team will travel to California next weekend for the Mt. Sac Relays.

"We are going to shift things around, this week," Alford-Sullivan said. "It's going to be a small group and the meet is going to be more technical."

The remainder of the women's track and field team will remain in University Park and take part in the Nittany Lion Relays along with the men's team.

The Lions are looking ahead now as they prepare for the Penn Relays and Big Ten Championships.

"At the Big Ten meet, we are looking to really make our mark again," Alford- Sullivan said.