STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania track and field teams headed to Happy Valley this weekend for the two-day Penn State National, highlighted by a program-record performance from Maeve Stiles.
 
DAY 1
Friday saw plenty of action for the Quakers including five new marks in the program record book.
 
On the women's side, Aliya Garozzo took a fifth-place finish in the 60m hurdles, clocking a final time of 8.63. However, in her first-round race, she crossed the line at 8.61, a mark good enough to place her sixth in program history.
 
She was joined on the track by Moforehan Abinusawa and Bronwyn Patterson with successful evenings. Abinusawa took third place in the 60m finals with a time of 7.45. In the 800m, Patterson finished top 10 in a field of 28, taking ninth with a time of 2:09.40. She missed a PR by just two seconds.
 
On the infield, three Quakers earned top 10 finishes in the pole vault, all clearing 3.66m (12-0). Kai Eisenhardt earned fifth place, while Meghan Hart took eighth and Nataliia Ilieva 10th.
 
On the men's side, the program marks were hit on the track. Dimitri Nicholson placed fourth in the 60m with a time of 6.83. During his semifinal race, he bolted across the finish line in 6.80, a time good enough for second in program history.
 
Edwin Klanke took 16th out of 45 competitors in the mile, clocking a time of 4:03.84, moving him into 10th in the record book. Also on the track, the Quakers had a pair of top-10 finishes in the 800m, as Denis Gallagher posted an eighth-place finish with a time of 1:50.01 and Titus Bretzke followed him in at 10th with a time of 1:50.35. Gallagher's time places him fifth in program history, and Bretzke right there with him in sixth.
 
Penn had two other performances that were top three finishes. Shane Gardner earned third place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.92, while James Rhoads held down the infield with a second-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 5.16m (16-11).
 
DAY 2
Stiles paced a group of seven Quakers on Saturday with program marks, setting a new record in one of the 3,000m events. She cruised to a second-place finish in the event, clocking a time of 9:16.89 to move to the top spot in the record book. She crushes the record previously held by Emily Logan in 2004 who crossed at 9:21.57.
 
In the other 3,000m race for the women, Olivia Morganti earned first place with a time of 9:38.76, good enough to come in at 10th in program history. Katie Pou joined Morganti in the race for third with a time of 9:43.78, while Lizzy Bader accompanied Stiles in her race for eighth place on a time of 9:35.43.
 
Also on the track, Garozzo made her mark for the second straight day, earning a top finish in one of the 400m races with a time of 55.76, moving into 10th in the record book. In the other 400m race, Isabella Whittaker took fourth with a time of 54.87 to improve to fourth in history. Jocelyn Niemiec joined Whittaker in her race, taking eighth overall with a time of 56.26.
 
Patterson dazzled in the 1,000m, taking second place with a time of 2:48.30 to move into third in program history. The last program mark on the track came in the final event of the day, the 4x400m. The group of Abinusawa, Whittaker, Niemiec, and Garozzo took third in the event with a time of 3:39.48, setting the third best time in program history.
 
On the infield, Tamara Grahovac took second place in the triple jump, landing 12.39m (40-7.75) to jump into fifth in the record book.
 
The men's side had plenty of top 10 finishes on Saturday led by a third-place finish by Conrad Moore in the high jump, clearing 2.03m (6-8). Mark Anselmi also earned top 10 in the event, clearing 2.00m (6-6.75) for seventh. Also on the infield, Olatide Abinusawa took sixth in the shot put, tossing 16.72m (54-10.25).
 
On the track, Emerson Douds solidified sixth in the 200m (22.04) and 10th in the 400m (49.14), while Alec Jackson took ninth in the 400m (49.64).
 
Brother Antaures Jackson took fourth in the 600m with a time of 1:18.85, while Robbie Ruppel followed in close behind for fifth on a time of 1:18.95.
 
Aaron Stillitano competed in the 200m, winning his heat with a time of 22.57 to take seventh overall.
 
In the distance events, Matthew Fernando earned fourth in the 1,000m on a time of 2:26.29, while Dennis Fortuna took seventh in the 3,000m crossing at 8:29.23.
 
HEPTATHLON
The men had a pair of Quakers compete in the heptathlon for the first time this indoor season over the weekend, as Andrew Colbert collected the victory and Michael Hermes finished fifth. Colbert registered 4,951 points, and Hermes earned 4,772. Colbert won the long jump (6.79m), while Hermes earned the victory in the high jump (1.94m).