NEW YORK – Select student-athletes from Penn State Harrisburg's men's and women's track & field teams were in action on the opening day of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Indoor Championships at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory on Friday afternoon, March 1.
During the first day of competition, three Lions earned medals, led by reigning Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Indoor Women's Athlete of the Year Rae Rae Taylor. The sophomore racked up 3,025 total points en route to winning an ECAC Championship in the pentathlon, edging Keene State's Alex Gauthier and Alvernia's Susanna Pirollo in a talented field. Taylor won the shot put, high jump and long jump portions of the event, with her shot put effort of 11.19 meters breaking her own program record.
Joining Taylor as Blue & White medalists were jumpers Sarah Lehman and Alex White. Not only did Lehman win silver in the women's long jump, she also broke her own program record in the event thanks to a top effort of 5.42 meters. On the men's side, White came within .02 meters of resetting his program record in the long jump, posting a top bound of 6.83 meters to secure silver in the event. Both athletes will be back in action on the final day of competition on Saturday.
A number of Lions were strong in preliminary action as well, with reigning CAC Indoor Men's Athlete of the Year Jalil Clayton recording the top time in the 60m hurdles (8.24 seconds). He'll be joined in the finals on Saturday by teammates Shammah Gahomera and Andrew Bomberger. In the women's 60m dash, Aiyala McPhee ran an 8.07 to earn a spot in the event's finals on day two of competition.
Elsewhere, senior Cameron Yon just missed out on bronze in the men's shot put, as his best toss of 12.69 meters was strong enough to secure a fourth-place finish in the event. Same goes for the women's 4x200m dash, with the foursome's combined effort of 1:52.41 ending up good enough to clinch fourth place in the race.
Penn State Harrisburg will finish up the weekend in New York City on the final day of the ECAC Division III Championships on Saturday, March 2.
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