GENEVA, OHIO -- Penn State won the 2014 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday at the SPIRE Institute. The Nittany Lions posted four individual crowns and one relay title to claim the championship. The title marks Penn State’s third overall and first since 2010.
Penn State totaled 114.50 points en route to the championship, while Michigan (104 points) and Nebraska (92 points) came in second and third, respectively. Minnesota finished in fourth place with 64.50 points, while Purdue rounded out the top five with 53 points.
The Nittany Lions picked up first-place finishes from Tori Gerlach (3,000-meter run), Mahagony Jones (200-meter dash), Alyssa Robinson (weight throw), Kiah Seymour (400-meter dash) and the 4x400-meter relay team made up of Jones, Seymour, Dynasty McGee and Tichina Rhoades.
The Wolverines tallied four first-place finishes at the championships, including Erin Busbee (long jump), Erin Finn (5,000-meter run), Cindy Ofili (60-meter hurdles) and the distance medley relay team of Jaimie Phelan, Maya Long, Danielle Pfeifer and Brook Handler.
Also earning first-place finishes were Illinois’ Kandie Bloch-Jones (high jump) and Ahlivia Spencer (800-meter run), Indiana’s Kelsie Ahbe (pole vault) and Kyla Buckley (shot put), Michigan State’s Tori Franklin (triple jump) and Leah O’Connor (mile run), Minnesota’s Alena Brooks (600-meter run), Ohio State’s Ashlee Abraham (60-meter dash) and Wisconsin’s Deanna Latham (pentathlon).
O’Connor’s time of 4:34.35 in the mile was a Big Ten championships meet record, while Brook’s effort in the 600-meter run (1:26.73) and Franklin’s mark in the triple jump (13.56 meters) were both Big Ten records.
