Dukes Excel on Track at Penn State National Open

Saturday, January 27

University Park, Pa.

10 a.m.

James Madison University

Penn State National Open

Sofia Terenziani vs VMI Winter Classic 012723

1/27/2024 10:15:00 PM | Track & Field

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – James Madison track & field recorded four-season best performances in running events at the Penn State National Open Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Katherine Lawson finished the 3,000-meter race in a career-best 9:35.78. The time makes her the fifth-fastest Duke in the event in school history and is a 16.01-second improvement from her previous best, set last weekend at the Oceanfront Invitational on Jan. 20. Prior to her time at JMU, Lawson had not broken the 10-minute mark in the event.

The 4x400-meter relay crew of sophomore Kadence Wilson, graduate student Arianna Eberly, junior Virginia Keys and junior Holly Mpassy finished fourth in a season-best time of 3:48.20. The Dukes' relay team has improved its time every meet so far in the indoor season and has shaved off over five seconds from their season-opening time of 3:53.69.

Freshman Kristin Giordano, freshman Alayna Gifford, junior Sofia Terenziani and sophomore Faithe Ketchum completed the distance medley relay in a season-best 12:31.55. Coming into the meet, JMU's top time this season was 12:37.90, set at the Oceanfront Invitational on Jan. 20.

Elsewhere on the track, junior Kaia Putman clocked in with a PR of 25.37 in the 200-meter dash after recording a 7.69 in the 60-meter dash the day before.

Up Next
The Dukes return to the commonwealth for the VMI Winter Relays, Feb. 2-3. JMU will then head to Lynchburg, Va. for Liberty's Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational (Feb. 8-9) to prepare for the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., Feb. 19-20.