ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's indoor track & field team opened the 2022-23 season at the Houghton December Classic held at the Kerr-Pegula Field House on Friday night.

Key Moments:

* Olivia Nola (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) highlighted the night with a personal-best time of 19:24.87 for second place in the 5,000m race
* Nola was the first of all college athletes to finish the race, taking second behind an unattached runner
* Bethany Litwiler (Reynolds, PA/Reynolds) finished seventh in the same event with a time of 20:48.89
* Nola also led the Lions in the mile, running in fifth place with a time of 5:35.91
* Ivy Laffan (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf), Emily Ferrans (Bradfordwoods, PA/North Allegheny) and Lindsey Hartle (Pittsburgh, PA/Avonworth) all finished in the Top 10 in the 800m run
* Laffan took third overall with a time of 2:33.06, while Farrans was fifth (2:41.05) and Hartle ran 2:42.55 for sixth place
* Laffan, Litwiler, Nola and Madison Kappeler (Cecil, PA/Canon-McMillan) placed third overall in the 4x400m relay (4:34.79)
* Kappeler, Grace Jones (Union City, PA/Union City) and Noelani Takei (Fremont, CA/Irvington) came in fourth, seventh and eighth in the pole vault, respectively
* Kappeler hit a height of nine feet, ¼ inch to pace Behrend

Next Up:

* The Behrend Lions return to action at the Nazareth Alumni Opener on Friday.