Behrend Women’s Indoor Track & Field Secures Championship; Kappeler Scores Gold Medal

LANDOVER, Md. – The Penn State Behrend women's indoor track & field team had one individual champion, one relay team champion, and nine silver medalists to lead to its first ever AMCC/United East Indoor Women's Track & Field Championship.

Team Scores:

1.) Behrend 135.66
2.) St. Mary's (Md.) 135.5
T-3.) Alfred State 71
T-3.) Lancaster Bible 71
5.) Gallaudet 66.33
6.) Carlow 62.5
7.) Penn State Harrisburg 54

Key Moments:

* The lone individual champion for the Lions was Madison Kappeler (Cecil, PA/Canon-McMillan) in the pole vault with a personal-best score of 11-1 ¾, followed by Noelani Takei's (Fremont, CA/Irvington)runner-up season-best score of 10-0
* The 4x4 relay team of Kappeler, Victoria Dietrich (Oakmont, PA/Riverview), Peyton Grimm (Sykesville, PA/DuBois Area), Ivy Laffan (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) were crowned champions with a season-best time of 4:16.93
* Senior Haley Felton (Midway, PA/Fort Cherry) received a silver medal in the 60m hurdles with a personal-best time of 10.18
* Bridget McMaster (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo Central) ran a runner-up finish time of 2:34.45 and a personal record time of 21:24.40 for third place, notching All-United East honors in both events
* Behrend tallied second and third-place finishes in the long jump from Kappeler (16-7 ¼) and Grimm (15-5). This score was a season-best from Kappeler
*  Freshman Rylee Long (Slippery Rock, PA/Moniteau) grabbed her first collegiate medal with a runner-up finish in the triple jump (35-10)
* In the women's weight throw, Jessica Park (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) recorded a silver medal throw of 42-10 ¼, while Rachel Skoczlas (Bridgeville, PA/Canon-McMillan) tallied a personal best of 25-10 ¾ in this event and in the shot put (20-9 ¾)
* Another silver medalist for the Lions was Bethany Litwiler (Reynolds, PA/Reynolds) with a season-best time of 21:19.47 in the 5000m, followed by McMaster in third with a personal-best time (21:24.40)
* Laffan finished third for a bronze medal in the 400m, while Dietrich scored season-best times in the 200m and 400m (28.65/1:06/15)
* Sophomore Lindsey Hartle (Pittsburgh, PA/Avonworth) ran a pair of personal-best times for silver medals with finishes of 5:39.33 in the mile and 11:08.21 in the 3000m
* Paige Massey (Erie, PA/McDowell) scored a key six points for the women to end championships, throwing a personal best 35-10 1/2 for a bronze medal
* Kappeler also went on to run a personal record time of 8:17 in the 60m
* The distance medley relay team of Angelina Compeggie (Cecil, PA/Canon-McMillan), McMaster, Felton, and Hartle notched third-place finish (14:23.69)
* Head coach Greg Cooper nabbed Coach of the Year Honors

Up Next:

* Behrend will compete in the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTFC) Indoor Championships in Rochester, NY hosted by Nazareth on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2. Meet times are noon and 10 a.m.