SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - Penn State junior Dannielle Gibson capped her 2016 outdoor track & field season with a gold medal performance in the 2016 NACAC U-23 Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador Sunday afternoon.
A junior from Nassau, Bahamas, Gibson entered the meet with a personal best seed of 13.63mw (44'-8.75") set earlier this year at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Florida.
Representing the Bahamas, Gibson finished the meet with a gold medal and a best mark of 13.54m (44’-5.25”) to record the second-farthest jump of her career.
Gibson finished ahead of Vanderbilt’s Simone Charley – 2016 NCAA outdoor silver medalist in triple jump - and Florida’s Darrielle McQueen – 2016 NCAA outdoor fifth-place finisher in long jump - who took second and third-place for the United States with marks of 13.50m (44’-3.50”) and 12.98m (42’-7”). Both Charley and McQueen were participants in the U.S. Olympic Trials finishing 13th and 19th, respectively, in the triple jump.
A 2016 NCAA indoor and outdoor second-team All-American in the triple jump, Gibson is currently ranked No. 2 indoor and No. 3 outdoor all-time in Penn State track & field program history heading into her senior year as a Nittany Lion.