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WCHS graduate Rachel Gearing, right, and PSU teammate Hayley Kitching pose for photo after sweeping the top two spots in the 800-meter race at the Big Ten Indoor Championships . (Photo/PSU Athletics)
Staff report
Rachel Gearing became a Big Ten legend over last weekend, earning a Big Ten track title for the Penn State track team during the conference's 2023 Indoor Championships in Geneva, Ohio.
Gearing was one of six PSU athletes to earn medals during the final day of competition, and she helped the women's squad finish sixth in the overall team standings.
Gearing ran a 2:03.53 to capture the title in the women's 800-meter race and continue a string of seven consecutive Nittany Lion women who have won the Big Ten indoor title in the event.
Gearing's time edged out her teamate Hayley Kitching, who was second at 2:03.70. Gearing and Kitching both set personal records in the event, posting the third and fourth-best times in Penn State history.
Gearing and a handful of PSU athletes will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the 2023 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships on March 10 and 11.
Jenna Gearing, Rachel's older sister, was on hand for the performance as a first-year member of the PSU track staff.
Jenna Gearing wrapped up her collegiate running career last year at the University of Kentucky and joined the PSU staff this fall as an operations assistant.