BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Senior Marc Minichello broke four records on just one throw on Wednesday, leading the University of Pennsylvania track and field team on the opening day of the 2022 NCAA Outdoor East Region Preliminaries.
 
Four Quakers competed on the first day at Indiana University, led by an incredible performance by Minichello at the javelin. Needing only his first throw, he tossed 80.38m (263-8) to not only take first place and qualify for national championships in Eugene, Oregon, but break the facility, Ivy League, program, and Divison I East Preliminary records. 
 
The facility record was set back in 1997 by Alabama's Mats Nilsson with a distance of 74.90m. The Ivy League and Penn record were set back in 2004 by Brian Chaput, who hit a mark of 79.80m.
 
Minichello was the only competitor out of 48 on Wednesday to clear 80m, with second place coming in at 77.16m. His throw was the third best mark in Division I this season, only trailing Virginia's Ethan Dabbs (82.92m) and Baylor's Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi (81.07m). Dabbs took third at the East preliminaries behind Minichello with his best throw of 77.06m to qualify for Oregon.
 
Ray Sellaro competed in the first round of the 1,500m for his first appearance at the East preliminaries, taking 10th in his heat with a time of 3:53.47. He took 43rd overall.
 
At the pole vault, James Rhoads and Benedikt Sachta both competed in their first East preliminaries. Sachta cleared 4.89m (16-0.5) to take 20th, while Rhoads passed at that height but couldn't clear the next mark of 5.04m (16-6.5).
 
The Quakers are back in action on Thursday with the first day for the women's events. Penn will be represented by Mayyi Mahama (hammer), Kirstin West (javelin), Skyla Wilson (100H, 400H), Haley Rizek (400H), and Bronwyn Patterson (800m) on Thursday.