The Penn State track and field team won 11 medals on the final day of competition at the 2024 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

The team, led by head coach John Gondak, was the only school in the Big Ten to place both the men’s and women’s teams within the top three spots of the final rankings. The men’s team finished third with 88 points while the women’s team finished second with 87 points.

Penn State had three individual title winners who managed to reset school records and make Penn State track and field history.

Cheickna Traore dominated at the championship, earning three Big Ten titles on Saturday. Traore shattered and reset his own school record with a 6.54 to win the men’s 60m while winning the men’s 200m with a 20.44 and leading the men’s 4×400-meter relay team to earn his third title. Traore made history by becoming Penn State’s first-ever indoor 200-meter Big Ten Champion.

Hayley Kitching blew past her competition with ease to earn herself two titles. The Australian-born player clinched the women’s 800-meter title with 2:04.08, beating the second-place runner by a second. She continued her extraordinary performance with her 600-meter run, where she finished 1:26.97, resetting the school record with ease.

Handal Roban won his first career Big Ten title with his 600-meter run, clocking in at 1:15.53, the third-fastest time recorded in Penn State history. Roban also secured a bronze in the men’s 800m with a 1:48.48.

Penn State also finished the competition with multiple Big Ten medalists. Kileigh Kane and Evan Dorenkamp won silver medals for the men’s and women’s teams in the mile. Kane finished with a 4:37.23, with Dorenkamp finishing at 4:06.17.

Mallory Kauffman led the women’s shot put, recording a season-best 55-9.25 (17.00m) throw to earn herself a silver medal, her highest finish at the Big Ten Championships thus far in her career.

Aside from Kitching and Roban winning the 600-meter titles for the men’s and women’s teams, Carter Fitzgerald won bronze for his 600-meter run, finishing at 1:16.59.

Penn State finished the competition with a blowout win in the men’s 4×400-meter relay. Austin Gallant, Korbin Martino, James Onwuka, and Traore ran the fifth-fastest indoor 4×400 in school history with a 3:06.36 finishing time.

Florence Caron (4:39.79) and Maddie Ullom (4:40.29) picked up three points for the Nittany Lion women after placing seventh and eighth, respectively, in the women’s mile.

Austin Gallant’s 46.96 personal record in the men’s 400-meters landed him sixth in the conference, contributing three points for the men’s team. The men’s 800 had two standouts with Olivier Desmeules (1:49.61) placing sixth, and true freshman Kaleb Nastari (1:50.48) finishing eighth overall in his first conference championship.

Victoria Vanriele followed Kitching’s school record-setting run in the 600 meters by placing fifth overall with a 1:29.96 finish. Desmeules earned five more points for the men’s team after placing fourth place in the men’s 600-meters.

Caron and Sophia Toti finished the 5K in second and third place, respectively, whilst Toti placed seventh in the 3K and Caron placed eighth.

Isaac Osifo reached a personal-best mark in the high jump clearance with a 7-0.5 (2.15m), earning him fourth place in the Big Ten. Osifo’s jump contributed 4.5 points for the men’s team. Finally, Lucciano Pizarro finished eighth in the Big Ten with a 60-8.5 (18.50m) shot put mark.

After the monumental weekend for the Nittany Lions track and field, the team awaits confirmation on entries for the 2024 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The meet will take place on March 8 and 9 in Boston at New Balance’s the TRACK facility.