WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg's men's and women's outdoor track & field teams opened the outdoor campaign with a couple of record-breaking performances at the Purple & Gold Open hosted by West Chester on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. 


On the women's side, the hammer record book was reset by a pair of throwers in Isabella McGuire and Elaina Torta. McGuire's top toss of 40.55 meters stands as a new program record, while Torta's best effort of 40.09 meters now sits second all-time in the event. The marks also earned the duo a pair of top-five finishes. On the track, MaKayla Reichel made history of her own by shattering the program's previous steeplechase mark by nearly three minutes thanks to an effort of 13:27.82.


Elsewhere, Destiny Samuels secured a top-five finish in the 800m and Carson Villani nabbed the runner-up spot in the high jump. Shaeli McGeary also captured a pair of top-10 finishes in the triple and long jump events. 


Landon Weldon shined for the men, coming within .01 seconds of setting a new program record in the 100m. His sprint of 10.86 seconds earned him a runner-up finish in the race and now stands as the second-quickest jaunt in the event in program history. He also added a top-five finish in the 200m thanks to a time of 22.50 seconds. 


In the field, Andrew Geocos and Ben Miller each cracked the top three all-time in program history in the pole vault behind top clearances of 3.96 meters. Jonathan Luo proved the team's top finisher in the triple and long jumps, while Connor Daubert (discus), Damilola Fagbolade (shot put), Jacob Elmer (javelin) and Evan O'Hara (javelin) all secured top-five finishes in their respective throwing events. 


The Lions will look to build on the early-season momentum when they travel to Susquehanna for the Jim Taylor Duals on Saturday morning, March 28. 


Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.