Penn track and field has strong performance at Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup

Sensational Saturday. 

Penn men's and women's track and field continued their recent success on Saturday at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge Cup at Penn State. The Quakers set 11 top-10 marks and times in program history to highlight the day of competition. 

In the weight throw, junior Jake Kubiatowicz was spectacular with a program record-shattering throw at 19.57 meters in his last throw of the day. 

The Red and Blue excelled on both the men’s and women’s side of the 60-meter dash. Sophomore Jared Elters won the event with a time of 8.21 seconds with a personal best and eighth-best time in program history. For the women, sophomore Mia Knight, senior Elena Brown-Soler, and freshman Grace O’Shea came in between second and fourth places in the 60m dash. Knight ran a time of 7.59 seconds, which places her at sixth all-time, while fellow teammate O’Shea followed right behind with 7.60 seconds for seventh all-time. 

The 200m for the Quakers was outstanding, with four women posting the top 10 finishers in the event along with top-10 finishes in program history. Senior Cecil Ene topped the event with a first-place finish, setting a personal record at 24.07 seconds. Her time was also good enough for a second-best time in program history. Brown-Soler finished in fourth at 24.40 seconds and fourth all-time in program history. Freshman Lauryn Harris ran a 24.66 second time for seventh all-time, and Knight came in at 24.84 for tenth all-time. 

O’Shea continued her sensational day by winning in the 60m hurdles coming in at 8.46 seconds. Senior Breanne Bygrave came in second at 8.56 seconds, and sophomore Skyla Wilson came in sixth at 8.71 seconds.  

In the field events, sophomore Victoria Agyin came in first in the triple jump with a mark of 12.59m. Classmate Mayyi Mahama came in second in the weight throw with a score of 20.26m. 

Other notable performances on the women’s side were junior Uchechi Nwogwugwu, who won the 400m in 54.42 seconds, Ene was second, and Wilson in third at 55.40, fifth-best time in program history. Senior Nia Akins won the 600m in 1:27.96, senior Katie DeVore won the 800m in 2:12.48, and senior Maura Kimmel won the shot put with a mark of 15.60m. 

On the men’s side, Elters’ won the 60m hurdles, junior Anthony Russo won the 3,000 in 8:20.02, the 4x 400m team won in 3:16.29, and senior Sean Clarke won the pole vault with a clearance of 5.11m. 

Penn will have one week to prepare for their next meet, as they will next be in action on Feb. 14 at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, S.C.