HOUHGTON, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's indoor track & field team started the New Year back at Houghton, for the Highlander Invitation held at the Kerr-Pegula Field House on Saturday.

Key Moments:

* The Behrend Lions captured four first-place finishes, including the top four places in the shot put
* The Lions dominated the field events with three wins and three second-place finishes
* Anand Bhambhwani (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon) was first in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.83, while also placing fifth in the high jump (5-9 ¼)
* Bhambhwani ran a leg on the second-place 4x200 relay along with Blake Burns (Jefferson, OH/Jefferson Area), Antonio Stello (Punxsutawney, PA/Punxsutawney) and Brendan Bruce
* The foursome clocked in a time of 1:38.18
* Stello also took second in the 60m (7.10) and second in the 200m (23.10), while Burns placed second in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.90
* Alex Cotton (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) led the Lions in the shot put, hitting a distance of 44-0 ¾
* Dan Dabrowski (Harborcreek, PA/Harborcreek) was second in the shot put (43-0 ½), Max Rohl (Horsehead, NY/Horsehead) was third (42-0) and Nathan DiGilio (North East, PA/North East) came in fourth (41-10 ¾)
* Rohl led the way in the weight throw, taking second with a toss of 39-11 ½ and DiGilio was third in the weight throw (39-8 ½)
* In the pole vault, Islam Daghestani (Meadville, PA/Meadville Area) cleared the best height of the day at 13-5 ¼ for first place
* Ryan Festa (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) was behind Daghestani in second 13-5 ¼
* Another first-place finish went to Samuel Hetrick (New Bethlehem, PA/Redbank Valley) in the high jump (6-6 ¾) and Evan States took second (Punxsutawney, PA/Punxsutawney) with a distance of 38-11 ½
* The 4x400m relay team consisting of Zachary Tingley (Stoneboro, PA/Lakeview, Emil George (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), Jason Seevers (North East, PA/North East) and Aiden Reinsel (North East, PA/North East) were fifth overall (3:48.63)
* George also led Behrend in the 5000m, earning ninth overall in 18:09.93
* Elijah Hunt (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) tallied the sixth best distance in the long jump, recording a leap of 19-9 ¾

Next Up:

* The Behrend Lions return to action on Friday at Spire Collegiate Invite.