Track and Field: Select Panthers stand out in Virginia meet

On a cold weekend in Williamsburg, Va., two men and two women on the Pitt track and field team… On a cold weekend in Williamsburg, Va., two men and two women on the Pitt track and field team fought through abnormally high wind and chilly temperatures to stand on the winners’ podium at the Colonial Relays.

Hosted by the College of William & Mary, the Colonial Relays are an early test that helps prepare the runners for some of the more high-pressure meets later in the season, and especially leading into the Big East Championships.

Some of the Panthers recorded strong times at the relays, which they ran in 40-some degree weather.

Headlining the Pitt’s top runners was Dontave Cowsette, who had his best time of the outdoor season so far when he hit 1:50.48 in the 800-meter run, which was good enough for third place. As a team, the men finished in 21st place out of 50 competing schools.

His performance — which Cowsette credits to his new, more laid back attitude — was a good step for him toward building the confidence needed for a Big East Championship run in May.

“It’s more mental for me,” said Cowsette, a junior. “I’m still training very hard, but I’m approaching my races more relaxed. I’m just trusting my coaches and my abilities.”

Not to be upstaged by his fellow junior, teammate  Jermaine Lowery finished third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.57 seconds.

“I was just happy about the race itself,” Lowery said. “We didn’t really have the best conditions to run in.”

Despite the success, Lowery isn’t done and still has some lofty goals.

“I would like to lower my competition time in 400 hurdles,” Lowery said. “By the end of the season my goal is to run [a] 49.20.”

A time of 49.20 would put Lowery more than three seconds under his time at Colonials this weekend and put him in good position for the Big East Championship.

Along with the men, the women also had two strong performances in their events. In the 100-meter dash, senior Da’Lynn Mills led the team with a first-place finish after crossing the line at 12.49. Her performance helped the women’s team place 14th out of 40 women’s teams.

Sophomore Elizabeth Kline also had a third-place finish in the 400 hurdles — raking in a career-best time of 1:02:20.  Neither Mills nor Kline could be reached for comment after the competition.

Head coach Alonzo Webb said Kline “is one of the hardest workers and she really wants to do well. She also loves the 400 hurdles.”

Similar to Cowsette, a big part of the strong run for Kline was the mental game.

“The week before, she was putting a lot of pressure on herself,” Webb said. “I just told her to be relaxed and go out there and trust her training. I think she responded by trusting herself and just not thinking about it as much — and she actually ran really well.”

The Panthers hope to build off some of their strong performances when they compete in Fairfax, Va., at the Mason Invitational this Saturday.