STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Penn State Harrisburg's men's and women's track & field teams returned to action for the first time in nearly six weeks, competing at the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartan Invitational on Friday, Jan. 11.
On the men's side, no one had a better outing than Jalil Clayton. In fact, not many athletes in the nation had a stronger showing than the senior, as he broke his own program record in the 60m hurdles thanks to a time of 8.15 seconds. His effort easily earned him the victory, as well as the top mark in the Capital Athletic Conference and the country's third-quickest time in the event.
Other top efforts on the day came courtesy of Alex White, Cameron Yon and Dominick Hogans. White finished as the runner-up in the high jump thanks to his top bound of 1.93 meters after competing on the track in the 60m dash. Yon was the top Division III finisher in the weight throw, placing sixth in a field of 40 with his best toss of 15.69 meters. Hogans also performed well in a large field, finishing 16th out of nearly 70 runners in the 200m dash.
For the women, it was Rae Rae Taylor and Sarah Lehman showing off their versatility. The pair combined with teammates Aiyala McPhee and Neeyah Turner to run a 1:49.61 in the 4x200m relay; an ECAC-qualifying mark good enough to rank second among competing Division III foursomes. Taylor's time of 8.19 in the 60m dash was also quick enough to qualify for ECACs, while Lehman was the top Division III finisher in both the long and triple jump events.
McPhee was also strong in the 200m dash, finishing 17th out of 91 runners and qualifying for ECACs with a scamper of 26.73 seconds. In the throwing events, Rachale Hair finished 27th out of a group of 50-plus competitors in the shot put to go along with a 22nd-place finish in the weight throw.
It's short rest for the Lions, as both the men's and women's team will return to action on Saturday afternoon at the Lions Indoor Invitational hosted by The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).
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