Track and field: Pitt to compete at indoor championships this weekend

For many track and field athletes, the season really starts when outdoor competition begins. But… For many track and field athletes, the season really starts when outdoor competition begins. But it’s during the indoor season that goals are set and skills refined.

“The outdoor season is really considered the season because it is what you will remember most since it is the last time you will be competing before going home for the summer or ending your collegiate career,” Pitt head coach Alonzo Webb said. “The indoor season lets you know what you need to work on heading into the outdoor season.”

Although the indoor season can be seen as a preparatory time, it does allow for competitive meets, including the upcoming women’s and men’s championships to be held this weekend.

Both Pitt squads will travel to Boston, with the women competing in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships and the men taking part in the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships.

The women’s team is coming off of a nineth-place finish in the recent Big East Indoor Championships where 11 top-nine finishes were earned.

In that meet, the 4×400 relay team, composed of seniors Brianna Broyles, Da’Lynn Mills, Katelynn Brown and sophomore Jonnique Lawrence took home second place with a time of 3:42.36, whereas freshman Ashley Corum finished first in the triple jump with a career-high 12.51-meter leap.

For Webb, the success of Corum and other first-year competitors is noteworthy and something to watch for in this weekend’s competition.

“I am particularly impressed with the attitude and work ethic of six of our freshmen: Corum, Jordan Hoyt and Jordan Lee on the women’s team and Micah Murray, Dan O’Toole and Reggie Steele on the men’s team,” Webb said.

Though still a freshman, Murray understands the importance of working hard through the indoor season and establishing a strong team foundation.

“The indoor season is only the beginning of something great,” Murray said. “A bond was formed, but we know that this bond is only going to get stronger.”

That bond proved to be a key to success in the Big East Indoor Championships, where the team finished seventh overall with 18 top-nine finishes in the meet.

Murray and O’Toole, along with juniors Elliot Rhodes and Jermaine Lowery, took third in their 4×400 race, an event for which Murray has set high expectations.

“One of my goals has always been to take our mile relay team to nationals, and this weekend I want us to perform the way I know we can,” Murray said.

Also earning attention on the men’s side are junior Dontave Cowsette and sophomore Tashaun Hill, who each earned third place in their respective events —  the 800-meter run and the 60-meter hurdles.

In the IC4 Championships, Cowsette looks to improve upon his previous season-best 800-meter time of 1:50.59 while also achieving a longterm team goal.

“My personal goal for this weekend is to make the national qualifying mark for the 800-meter race,” Cowsette said. “We need to continue to work hard and put the effort in to become a winning team in the outdoor season.”

For Hill, the IC4A is a chance to turn his dedication into positive results that have eluded him in the past.

“Last year, I did not finish as well as I thought I should at this meet, so my goal is to qualify for nationals,” Hill said. “I feel like I have been working hard since the summer, and it’s about time my hard work paid off.”

On both the women’s and men’s sides, the ECAC and IC4A Championships will represent an opportunity to improve times and score while also giving further insight into the changes and adjustments coaches and athletes need to make for the outdoor season.

“[After this weekend] we have a couple of weeks before outdoor starts,” Hill said. “Whether it be physically or mentally, we all need to improve in something in order to accomplish our team goals.”