The Penn State men’s track and field team took home the team title during the one-day Battle of the Bayou competition hosted by LSU in Baton Rouge, LA. The meet was scored against Iowa, LSU, and Purdue.

The Nittany Lion men, currently ranked at No. 17, came out victorious with a score of 170 points to LSU’s 154 points. The women finished in a close 4th, only 8 points behind Iowa.

The team was led by nine first-place finishes throughout the day. Penn State swept the steeplechase event with wins on both the male and female side. Freshman James Abrahams ran 9:18.02 to claim his title, while senior Lisa Bennatan finished in 10:35.68. It was the steeplechase debut for both Abrahams and Bennatan.

Sophomore Danae Rivers competed in her signature 800 event and ran 2:05.45 for the event win. This mark currently sits No. 10 in the NCAA standings.

Madison Smith, a freshman, won the javelin throw with a mark of 50.02 meters and was closely followed by teammate Stephanie Sievers, who finished second in the event.

In the high jump, Megan McCloskey finished third with a mark of 1.75 meters. In the pole vault, Hannah Mulhern, Katie Jones, Greer Gumbrecht, and Lexi Masterson finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th to rack up some points for the women’s team.

On the men’s side, freshman Owen Wing won the 1,500 meters with a career best time of 3:49.77. Wing came back later in the day to win the 5,000 meter event with another career best time, finishing in 15:53.49.

Senior Xavier Smith finished third in both the 100 meter and 200 meter events to give Penn State 12 points for the day.

In the field events, sophomore Austin Campbell cleared 2.06 meters to win the high jump and was closely followed by teammate Devin Bradham, who cleared the same height to finish 3rd.

Junior Bryce Williams finished the day with a mark of 15.29 meters, good enough for the win in the triple jump, while teammate Malik Moffett finished second in the long jump.

The Nittany Lion men put on an impressive show in the javelin throw. Sophomore Michael Biddle won the event with a toss of 69.72 meters and was followed by teammates Matt Nawrocki and Mark Porter, who finished second and third with marks of 64.14 meters and 60.13 meters, respectively.

Both teams will be back in action locally next weekend. They’ll head to Lewisburg, PA to compete in the two-day Bucknell Classic hosted by Bucknell University.