Four Lions Set for NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

ERIE, Pa. – Paige Allen (Butler, PA/Butler), Matt McWilliams (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf), Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex) and Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) are all set to represent the Penn State Behrend track and field teams at the Division III NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this Thursday through Saturday, May 26-28 at Walston Hoover Stadium in Waverly, Iowa.

These four are creating new program history by competing at these NCAA Championships. The men are setting a new top mark for the men's program with three men competing in four events and Allen is setting program history by competing in two events, the most for any female. All four of these Lions were also Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) champions in their respective events.

Obenrader is a two-time NCAA participant and has a gold and silver medal in the javelin from his freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively. He has qualified in the shot put (7^th, 56' 0") and the javelin (1^st, 221' 5"), both were new school records this year.

Allen, McWilliams and Patten are all first-time qualifiers at NCAAs. Allen qualified in the 100m (6^th, 11.92) and the 200m (13^th, 24.66), setting new school records in each event. McWilliams broke the school record in the 1500m to qualify 20^th with a time of 3:50.82 and Patten qualified with the 12^th best height in the country this season at 16' 3.5", a new personal best.

The schedule for the national championship participants follows below:

Thursday, May 26
12 p.m. - Men's pole vault finals
3:30 p.m. - Men's 1500 meter run prelims
4:45 p.m. - Women's 200 meter dash prelims

Friday, May 27
3 p.m. - Men's shot put prelims and finals
5:30 p.m. - Women's 100 meter dash prelims

Saturday, May 28
1:25 p.m. - Men's 1500 meter run prelims
2:30 p.m. - Men's javelin prelims and finals
2:40 p.m. - Women's 100 meter dash finals
3:50 p.m. - Women's 200 meter dash finals