Track and field: Panthers finish seventh in Big East tournament

On a weekend where the Pitt track & field team finished seventh out of 12 teams in the Big… On a weekend where the Pitt track & field team finished seventh out of 12 teams in the Big East Indoor Championships, it was a freshman who stole the show.

Ashley Corum, a long jumper for the Pitt women’s team, came away the team’s only champion after hitting a career best 12.51 meter triple jump at the competition in Akron, Ohio. She was the first freshman from Pitt to win a Big East Championship since Amanda Walker won the title for shot put in 2001.

“I told her, ‘When you go out there, you get focused and put a big jump out there right away, make everyone else come and get you,’” Pitt head coach Alonzo Webb said. “She came in ranked No. 3, put the pressure on the top two and made them try and come and get her, and they couldn’t.”

Corum understood she needed to set the tone, and after hitting a great jump on her first run she knew she had put herself in a good position.

“I just wanted to do my best,” Corum said. “My first jump was a relief. I knew that would get me in the finals and I just tried to maintain that focus throughout the finals too.”

This tournament had been on Corum’s mind since she came to Pitt.

“She had her goals in mind and wanted to be a Big East Champion as a freshman,” Webb said. “You never want to discourage anyone from those goals — even though they were lofty — but she worked hard at it.”

Corum wasn’t the only young athlete from Pitt to show up over the weekend. In fact, much of the team’s success came from the underclassmen.

For the men, it was sophomore Tashaun Hill who tied a career-best time of 8.00 in the 60-meter hurdle. Going into the race, he had to make the decision to run on a tight hamstring, but it was an even riskier decision on the blocks that got him off to a good start.

“I was sitting there waiting and the guy was holding the gun for a while,” Hill said. “So I just took off and it just so happened that he shot the gun at the same time, so I had a good start.”

Despite the good start and the career best, both Hill and Webb think the runner could take another step forward.

“He still isn’t where we expect him to be,” Webb said. “Something big is coming here — we thought it might be this weekend. Even though he’s competing very well right now, we know that there is more in him.”

“I’m not going to say I had the best race,” Hill added. “But I’ll take it. I’m happy with the results.”

Dontave Cowsette, a junior, also had a season best when he ran the 800 meters in 1:50.59. Both Cowsette and Hill finished third in their respective events.

“I was happy to make the podium,” Cowsette said. “I felt pretty good throughout the race. I just went in with a clear mindset and went out and competed to the best of my ability.”

Senior Garrett Larkin finished fifth in the shot put and junior Kurt Barnhart finished just behind Larkin with a throw of 16.82 meters — a career best.

Overall, however, the weekend wasn’t a big success for the team.

“I think the whole team thinks that seventh place isn’t to our full capability,” Hill said. “We have the talent to be at least top-three and even win the Big East.”

Although the weekend might have left a sour taste in the athletes’ mouths, Webb feels that the team is doing a lot of things right and that there is a bright future ahead.

“We have a pretty strong nucleus here and we’re going to add to it next year with some good recruits,” Webb said. “Things are looking up.”

For now, the team will begin to look forward to the outdoor season, which starts on March 18.

“We’re still taking steps to being [in] the top three in the Big East,” Hill said. “Hopefully we’ll be doing better during outdoors.”