PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's and women's track and field programs hit the road for the first time this season, competing in day one of the Temple Invitational.
The Quakers had a handful of personal records set in the meet, led by
Haley Rizek and
Claire Moreau with marks that moved them into the top 10 in program history on the women's side.
Rizek earned a first-place finish in the 400m hurdles, clocking a time of 1:01.20 to move her into sixth place for Penn. Moreau set the fifth-best mark in program history in the high jump, taking first place on Friday with a height of 1.73m (5'-8").
Several other first-place accolades were given out on Friday on the women's side, seeing
Grace O'Shea collect a top finish in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.44 and senior captain
Camille Dickson continue her dominance in the long jump, taking her third top finish of the season with a distance of 6.01m.
A pair of second-place finishes were awarded to
Michelle Rubinetti in the pole vault (3.60m) and
Jacinta Arnold in the triple jump. Arnold landed at 11.81m, a new personal record for the sophomore.
Like the women, the men's side had several top finishes and more personal records led by two first-place finishes by Emerson Douds in the 100m dash (10.92) and the 200m dash (21.74).
Douds was joined by Enoch Cheung, Robbie Ruppel, Michael Hermes, and Demetri Whitsett with top performances in their respective events. Cheung secured first place in the 110m hurdles, clocking a time of 14.83, while Robbie Ruppel crossed the line first in the 400m dash with a time of 49.38. On the infield, Hermes earned his second top finish in the high jump with a height of 1.95m, and Whitsett took first in the pole vault with a 4.40m mark.
One of the most exciting races of the day came in the men's 1,500m, as several Quakers posted times in the top 10 in program history. Leading the way was Ryan Renken, needing a photo finish to miss first place by just .02 seconds. Renken finished the race with a 3:44.45, the third-best time in program history. He was closely followed by Noah Carey with a time of 3:44.67, who now sits fourth in Penn history with Tom Murray (1978) and Bill Huntley (1976). Michael Keehan took fourth in the race with a time of 3:45.57, placing him eighth in program history, while Justin Cornetta crossed in sixth with a time of 3:45.87, putting him 10th in Penn history. Mason Gatewood (3:45.90), James Lee (3:46.29) and William Hare all clocked personal best times and finished in the top 10 of the race.
Three personal bests were set in the 5,000m for the men, as Zubeir Dagane (14:27.47), Will Shaughnessy (14:29.37) and Justin Iler (14:30.16) came across in order from third to fifth, respectively, for new career marks.
The final day of the Temple Invitational will take place on Saturday afternoon with the throwing events. Being held at Mondschein Throwing Complex on Penn's campus, the first event is set to begin at 1 p.m.
