Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519242
M A Y 2 0 2 4 13 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Michael Jaroh — Men's Gymnas cs Jaroh posted a career-best score of 14.325 on the high bar at the Big Ten Championships, claiming a conference title in the individual event finals April 7 at Illinois. A senior all-arounder from Northville, Mich., Jaroh became only the fourth Penn State gym- nast to win the high bar title and the first since Trevor Howard in 2016. The conference championship was the first of his career. "He did an outstanding job on high bar," coach Randy Jepson said. "He hasn't been in the high bar all year, so it's just great to see him step up to the plate and knock out a Big Ten championship." Hayley Kitching — Women's Track A middle-distance standout from Coffs Harbour, Australia, Kitching opened the outdoor track season by setting a school record in the 800-meter race at the Florida Relays in Gainesville on March 31. She finished in 2:01.17, topping the PSU outdoor mark of 2:01.24 set by Rachel Gearing last year. A day earlier, Kitching set a personal best in the 1,500 with a time of 4:14.75. The sophomore was saluted as Big Ten Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week, the third time she's been honored by the conference this year. She twice won indoor athlete-of-the- week laurels in January and now owns school records in both the indoor and outdoor 800-meter races. Bridget Nemeth — So ball Nemeth is having a spectacular debut season for the Penn State softball team. The first-year pitcher from Glendora, Calif., had won or shared Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors three times as of early April. The most recent of those awards followed a three-game series at Nebraska April 5-7 in which Nemeth earned complete-game victories in both the opener and finale. In 17 combined innings against the Cornhuskers, she gave up just 5 earned runs and 12 hits while striking out 18 and issuing only 3 walks. Following Penn State's three-game series against visiting Michigan State April 12-14, Nemeth was leading the Big Ten with an 18-1 record and a 1.20 ERA. In addition to her three Freshman of the Week awards, she was also named the league's Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 12. Cheickna Traore — Men's Track After finishing second in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Traore got off to a blazing start in the outdoor season. At the sea- son-opening Florida Relays in Gainesville on March 30, he ran a 20.23-second 200, tying a 38-year-old Penn State record. A day later, the graduate student from Linden, N.J., finished the 100-meter dash in a school-record 10.26 seconds. Those performances helped him claim Big Ten Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week laurels, but he wasn't finished. At the Hurricane Alumni Invitational in Miami the following weekend, Traore broke his own record by finishing the 100 in 10.20. A transfer from Division III Ramapo College of New Jersey, he now holds the PSU records for the indoor 60 and 200, as well as the outdoor 100 and 200. — Matt Herb PENN STATE'S TOP PERFORMERS NOTE: BlueWhiteIllustrated.com is the companion site to Blue White Illustrated magazine. It is a separate subscription and is NOT included with the magazine. JOIN TODAY JOIN TODAY BlueWhiteIllustrated.com BlueWhiteIllustrated.com The premier Penn State site, now on the On3 network, has a special offer for ALL Nittany Lion fans: 25% OFF with promo code WeAre2024 Offer valid for new subscribers only; regularly $119.99 a year FEATURING: ✦ NEXT-GENERATION PLAYER DATABASE ✦ RECRUITING SCOOP ✦ DAILY TEAM COVERAGE ✦ BREAKING NEWS & DAILY NEWSLETTERS ✦ STRONG COMMUNITY ✦ MONTHLY OPTION AVAILABLE ✦ NEW MOBILE APP!