Women’s track and field team breaks school relay record

By Dominic Campbell | For The Pitt News

February 5, 2017

Senior Ariel Pastore-Sebring, pictured running in the PSU National Open, set a personal best on Saturday in the 3,000m with a time of 9:50.95. Courtesy of Barry Schenk / Pitt Athletics

The Pitt women’s distance medley relay team had a record-breaking performance Friday, but still couldn’t catch up.

In South Bend, Indiana, for the Meyo Invitational Friday and Saturday, the women’s distance medley relay team broke Pitt’s record — 11:31.99, set last year at the Penn State National meet — with a time of 11:26.42. But the relay team, which includes Joslin Sellers, Miranda Salvo, Beth Shenck and Desiree Garland, was unable to win its race, finishing in third place behind unranked Indiana and No. 12 Michigan.

The men’s distance medley relay team also impressed Friday with a time of 9:53.78, earning second place in the event. The team, which included Dante Watson, Drew Glick, Billy Caldwell and Nick Wolk, trailed only the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets’ team.

Sophomore Gillian Schriever won the women’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:26.60, breaking her indoor personal record in the event. On the women’s side, three other top performers were Casey Harewood, who finished fourth in high jump with a jump of 1.56m, and Danielle Leaks, who finished 17th in the 200 with a personal best of 24.81. Andin Fosam threw for 19.48 in the weight throw, far enough to garner her second place.

Junior Quadaisha Newkirk was among the standouts on the women’s side, mainly for her performance in the 4×400 team Saturday. Alongside Jordan Bourgeois, Nina Crawford and Desiree Garland, Newkirk and the relay team finished in ninth place with a time of 3:42.78. Newkirk did not just save her energy for the team races, running a season-best time of 54.79 in the 400m, which was good for 13th in the event.

Newkirk was among four women to raise the bar in their performances Saturday. Beth Shenck and Makenzie Zeh broke their records in the mile and senior distance runner Ariel Pastore-Sebring set a new personal best in the 3000m.

Two athletes on the men’s team recorded individual records Saturday. Dante Wilson, a first-year from Hatfield, Pennsylvania, ran his fastest 800 Saturday with a 1:53.75, while sophomore Matt McGoey also set a new personal record of 4:16.15 in the mile.

Imani Brown and Desmond Palmer both won fifth place in their respective events, with Brown completing a 14.96m jump in the triple jump and Palmer running the 60m hurdles in 7.99 seconds.

The Panthers will go to Geneva, Ohio, next week for the SPIRE Invitational, their last meet before the ACC Indoor Championships.