PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend women's track and field team opened up the outdoor season at the Carnegie Mellon Invite on Friday and Saturday.

Key Moments:

* Senior Madison Kappeler (Cecil, PA/Canon-McMillan) kicked off the meet with an AARTFC qualifying clearnace of 11-3 for fourth place in the pole vault. She was followed by Noelani Takei's (Fremont, CA/Irvington) eighth place score of 9-9 1/4
* In her first meet of the season, Julia Balaski (Mercer, PA/Mercer) was the runner-up in the javelin throw, finishing with an AARTFC mark of 122-8. Balaski also placed 13th in the high jump (4-6 1/4)
* The 4x1 relay team of Kappeler, Peyton Grimm (Sykesville, PA/DuBois Area), Ivy Laffan (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf), and Rylee Long (Slippery Rock, PA/Moniteau) tallied a fifth place finish with a time of 51.40
* Long jumped 33-9 1/4 which was good for fifth place in the triple jump, while Laffan ran a 10th place time of 1:02.75 in the 400m
* Kappeler completed her solid start to the outdoor season with a score of 15-11 3/4 in the long jump for eighth place
* Sophomore thrower Paige Massey (Erie, PA/McDowell) recorded 10th and 12th place finishes in the discus (104-05) and shot put (36-1 1/2), while fellow sophomore Jessica Park (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) notched 14th place in the hammer throw (111-11)

Up Next:

* Behrend travels to Slippery Rock next Saturday. Meet time is scheduled for 10 a.m.