Three trips to the podium headline Panthers’ performance at ACC Outdoor Meet

The ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships came to a close over the weekend, and a few Panthers returned from Raleigh, N.C., with some hardware. 

Three trips to the podium, two first-team all-ACC performances to go along with six second-team selections and four school records headlined the weekend for the Panthers. The men’s team finished 10th place overall at the event while the women’s team placed 12th.

Pitt’s standout performance of the meet came from sophomore jumper Lydia Bottelier, who earned her first career trip to the podium after an impressive showing in the women’s high jump. Bottelier cleared a height of 1.75 meters — good for third in program history and a silver medal. The sophomore also earned first-team all-ACC honors and set a new personal best in the event.

The 4x400m men’s relay team comprised of fifth-year Felix Wolter, senior Lonzell Feagin, junior Matt Wilson and senior Ade Jones-Roundtree earned one of the Panthers podium spots after checking in with a time of 3:07.59 — the sixth fastest time in program history and good for third place in the event. Besides the bronze medal, the foursome also earned second-team all-ACC honors after their impressive performance.

The Panthers’ final podium worthy performance of the weekend came from senior jumper Kollin Smith’s bronze-medal performance in the long jump. The former Pitt football player earned his first career spot on the podium after a 7.48 meter jump, earning six points for the team in the process. Smith also provided Pitt their second first-team all-ACC recognition of the meet to go along with Bottelier’s performance.

Senior Noah Walker also turned in a strong performance over the weekend in the discus. Walker posted an impressive heave of 57.32m on his final attempt of the prelims — breaking his own previously set school record. Walker went on to finish fourth in the event.

Senior Ally Brunton set a school record and personal best with a 4:16.29 time in the 1500m. The team captain finished eighth in the event, qualifying for the NCAA Eastern Region Preliminary Round in the process.

Junior Edita Pessima, fifth-year senior Aysha Muhammad and senior Breanna Phillips, all having competed in the 400m hurdles and senior high-jumper Greg Lauray all earned the team points with their performances as well.

Despite low team scores, head coach Alonzo Webb was proud of his team’s performance and said he is looking forward to the upcoming NCAA Championships.

“Although it didn’t show in the team score, especially on the men’s side where we finished fourth indoors, we had some pretty outstanding performances,” said Webb. “I’m super proud of the way our teams competed and look forward to the first round of the NCAA Championships in two weeks.”

The Eastern Region Preliminary Round will begin on May 27 and conclude on May 29 at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.