CALIFORNIA, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend women's track and field team competed at the Cal U Early Bird Invitational Saturday afternoon to kick off their 2017 outdoor season.

Caitlin Plazony (Fairview, PA/Fairview), Jenna Shelton (Cabot, PA/Knoch), Courtney Sargent (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy), and Katelyn Hancock (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) got the day going for the Lions in the 800 meter relay. The team finished first with an ECAC-qualifying time of 9:48.46.

Two events later, the 4x100 relay team finished third. Paige Allen (Butler, PA/Butler), Haley Yenchik (Cecil, PA/Canon McMillan), Ashlyn Carlsson (Butler, PA/Knoch), and Rachel Pell (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward) tied for second with a time of 49.36 to set a new school record and qualify for ECACs.

Allen competed in the 100 and 200 meter dash, coming in second and third place, respectively. She finished with times of 12.21 and 25.76.

In the 800 meter race, Hancock came in fourth-place with a time of 2:20.82. Riley Crissman (Bradford, PA/Bradford Area) earned a seventh-place finish in the 5000 meter run after posting a time of 19:26.82.

Rachel Ramsey (North Versailles, PA/East Allegheny) and Erica Koenig (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) both placed in the top-10 for the 10000 meter run. Ramsey came in seventh with a time of 43:09.57 while Koenig posted a time of 46:29.23 that gave her 10th.

Pell raced in both the 100 and 400 meter hurdles. Her fourth-place finish in the 400 was earned with a time of 1:07.21 while her time of 16.06 gave her eighth in the 100 meter race.

On the field side, Yenchik had two top-10 finishes. Her vault of 3.45 meters (11'3.75") qualified her for ECACs and gave her a 10th-place finish. She then competed in the triple jump, coming in seventh place with a final distance of 10.09 meters (33'1.25").

Allen finished 10th in the long jump after posting a distance of 4.83 meters (15'10.25").

The Lions will be back in action next Saturday at the Carnegie Mellon Quad Meet beginning at 10 a.m.