Spiders Post Strong Races at PSU Open, Patriot Games

Friday, January 25

State College, PA

University of Richmond

Penn State National Open

01/27/2019 | Women's Track & Field

Patriot Games Results (PDF)Penn State National Results (PDF)

Racing in State College, Pa. and Fairfax, Va. , the Spiders had strong performances at both the Penn State National Open and the George Mason Patriot Games with multiple ECAC qualifying races.

At the Penn State Open, freshman Kayla Woods placed third overall in the long jump with a personal record of 5.75, beating her performance last week and improving on her ECAC qualifying mark. Woods also claimed section 5 of the 200M with a time of 25.34. In the Invitational 800M, junior Maria Acosta (2:08.36) and sophomore Brooke Fazio (2:09.76) placed fifth and eighth respectively both setting personal records and solidifying their ECAC qualifiers. In the Open 800M, freshman Kendra Smithers placed 3^rd in section 2 with a personal best 2:15.53. Four freshman women ran the 4x400M relay: Rachel Helbling (56.91), Tamar Accius (57.17), Kendra Smither (58.89) and Kayla Woods (58.14), qualifying for the ECAC with a time of 3:50.80. Helbling also raced in the 400M, placing second overall with a time of 56.47 to qualify for the ECAC Championships, moving to sixth in the A-10. Amaya Jackson and Haley Berkeley competed in the Pentathlon this weekend with strong performances. The Spiders distance medley relay team of Caroline Robelen (1200M leg-3:34.1), Maria Acosta (400M leg-56.2), Brooke Fazio (800M leg-2:14.0) and Claire Brown (1600M-4:58.5) placed 4^th in the event to qualify for the ECAC Championships with an A10 leading mark of 11:43.67. The relay currently ranks 27^th in the NCAA.

At the Patriot Games in Fairfax, Va. the Spiders also were posting strong times and personal records. In the 3000M, freshman Caitlin O'Hare (10:53.08) taking ninth overall. In the women's one mile, freshman Johanna Lupica bettered her high school personal best by posting a time of 5:09.94, taking third overall. In the 5,000M Eryn Mills (17:17.52) and Courtney Thompson (17:21.42) qualified for the ECAC Championships while Jordan Angers ran a personal best 17:34.75. The Spiders placed 3^rd, 5^th and 11^th respectively. The men also ran, Paul Knepple (2nd place, 8:33.89), Miles Clikeman (4th, 8:36.90), Peter Borger (5th, 8:37.91), and Noah Campbell (9th, 8:53.91). All four men posted personal bests in the race and Knepple qualified for ECAC with a converted time. Will Alpaugh won section 2 of the 1K race with a time of 2:35.65.

Coach Lori Taylor was pleased with the weekend saying, "This was another great weekend for our program. Our athletes competed hard and showed the desire to win races which is important. We have a large group of freshmen who continue to show our staff who they are on the field of competition. We like what we are seeing not just from the freshman but also our upperclassmen who are our leaders. Several athletes are making their mark within our league standings and a few knocking on the door at the national level. We are excited and to have a 4x400M relay of all freshman nearly claim the school record is very encouraging. It's just the beginning on so many levels." Coach Steve Taylor continued the praise for the men, saying "This was the first meet of the season for our men and they competed hard. Five men in the 3K and all 5 knocked out a personal best with Paul Knepple hitting the IC4A standard of 8:28.00 in the event. We were pleased with the effort and looking forward to getting more qualified to the ECAC/IC4A Championships as the season progresses."

The Spiders will next race in the Camel City Open on February 1 and 2. Until then, don't forget to follow your Spiders on all your favorite forms of social media.