In what can be considered the toughest competition the Penn State men's and women's track and field teams have faced this season, the historic Penn Relays yielded some of the strongest performances of the outdoor campaign, including three new school records.
The relays are one of the best-attended meets during the American track season.
"It's an amazing thing for a lot of athletes in our sport that are never going to compete in an environment that is that big," Penn State head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "It's their one chance to be in a stadium where there's 40,000 people cheering for you."
Freshman Bridget Franek took advantage of the atmosphere, getting off to a record-breaking start on Thursday with a career-best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase event, coming in at 9 minutes, 59.2 seconds.
Franek's time was a new Penn State record, the third fastest in the NCAA this season and the second fastest ever at the esteemed Franklin Field track. The freshman
has quickly become a national contender in the steeplechase after attempting the event for the first time last weekend at the Bucknell Team Challenge.
In the javelin events Saturday morning, teammates Tanner Evak and Harold Dunn recorded regional qualifying standards.
Evak finished third in the championship section with a toss of 227 feet, 4 inches, far enough for third and an improvement from his regional qualifying mark. Dunn took fifth in the college division with a distance of 204-3, also a regional qualifying performance.
Leading the way for the group of Lions' men's distance runners on Thursday was senior Dan Mazzocco. The experienced Mazzocco ran the fastest 5,000 meters of his career in a time of 14 minutes, 17.8 seconds, good enough for 18th place.
Fellow distance runner Mike Syrnick competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase once again. Syrnick almost hit the regional qualifying mark in his first ever try at the event two weekends ago at Bucknell.
"On the track, the distance guys really carried their own," Alford-Sullivan said. "They really took advantage of the atmosphere, the intensity and the fact that they were ready to run. They went out there and got it done."
High jumper Ryan Fritz, who has been jumping at an increasingly higher level in almost every performance of the outdoor season, turned in his outdoor personal best with a height of 7-02.5.
His mark was high enough for second place, just an inch and a quarter shorter than the winner from Texas.
The Lions' women's team also set a new school record in the sprint medley relay when the squad of Aleesha Barber, Dominique Blake, Shana Cox and Briene Simmons placed second on Friday at 3 minutes, 47.9 seconds. Simmons was just edged out at the finish line by LaTavia Thomas of Louisiana State's squad by only .89 second.
Also on Friday, Penn State's 4 x 1500-meter relay team of Meghan Noecker, Franek, Leah Rosenfeld, and Claire Percival set a school record at 17 minutes, 57.28 seconds while coming in sixth among one of the most elite fields of the weekend competition.
Michigan won the event with a collegiate record-setting time of 17 minutes, 15.62 seconds, breaking a 17-year-old record.
"It's one of those traditional events and it's one of the only times in the year you're going to get to run it," Alford-Sullivan said of the 4 x 1500-meter event. "Each of the legs ran a personal best for the season, they just ran out of their minds and were able to really knock that school record down."
While the Lions will take some time to reflect and feel proud of the success from the prestigious Penn Relays, the results from the meet will be viewed as an indicator of how everything is shaping up for the championship part of the season.
"To get it done this weekend at the Penn Relays in the events that were open is a great thing," Alford-Sullivan said. "It means that they are coming together well and training. Their competitive nature is taking over. They'll roll that over to the Big Ten championship and they'll definitely be prepared."
