Pitt track and field competes across multiple meets

Pitt track and field is on quite the tear recently. In their last few meets, the men and women’s teams have racked up successful finishes, broken records and won honorable titles. 

The Panthers’ busy schedule dates back to late March when the teams traveled to three universities for a triad of meets over one weekend. 

Pitt’s athletes etched their names into program history by breaking all-time records and earning multiple medals. 

Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays

Three Panthers shined in the heptathlon for the women’s team at the 96th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. 

Senior Ilse Steigenga took home first place in the long jump after landing a 6.25 meter leap. Steigenga came through the finish line fourth in the 200 meter as well, giving her an overall fifth-place finish and personal best time in the heptathlon. She now holds the second all-time program record, jumping up from her previous fourth-place spot in Pitt history. 

The ACC named Steigenga Athlete of the Week for her accomplishments, which is her second of the season. 

Graduate student Lydia Bottelier set two personal records, winning the 200 meter with a time of 24.21 and throwing 12.32 meters in the shot put for third place in the event. Bottelier finished seventh overall on the day. 

Sophomore Taylor Newton rose one spot to ninth on Pitt’s all-time heptathlon list with new personal bests in the 200 meter, which won her the event, and the shot put, which granted her a third-place finish. 

In the shot put, first-year Norrah Lemongo and sophomore Niya Crawford threw 15.14 meters and 14.55 meters, respectively, a new best for both women. This gave Lemongo a silver finish and Crawford fourth place. 

On the men’s side, the 4×100 relay, composed of junior Nigel Hussey, junior Stephon Brown, sophomore Darren McQueen Jr. and first-year Thomas McDonough, combined for a 40.19 finish — the third-best time in Pitt program history. 

Raleigh Relays

The distance group traveled to ACC foe North Carolina State to compete in the Raleigh Relays. A slew of Panthers left with new personal bests. For the men, four events led to five new program bests. 

In the 1,500 meter, sophomore Luke Simpson ended the day as the ninth-best Panther in program history with his time of 3:46.14 — a personal best. 

Junior Luke Miller dropped the hammer in the 5,000 meter, running a time of 13:57.15 and solidifying himself as the second-best in the event in the history of the program. 

Three Panthers set records in the 10,000 meter. Junior Luke Henseler ran 29:15.16, a new personal best that pushed him to second in Pitt history, four spots above his previous time. Senior Sam Otis ran 29:29.48, placing himself fourth on the program list. Junior Peyton Geehrer finished in 30:08.60, now ninth in program history.

For the women’s group, the Panthers broke one school record and set two additional historic times of their own.

In the 10,000 meter race, junior Winnie Incorvaia set a new program record of 33:47.53, placing seventh overall and breaking Gillian Schriever’s record time from 2017. Senior Sadie Carey-Tharp recorded the third-best time in program history at 34:17.74. 

Incorvaia and Carey-Tharp are now ranked 31st and 41st in the nation, respectively, for the 10k race. 

Carnegie Mellon Invitational

In the final of three consecutive meets for the track and field program, three first-year runners took home wins in their respective events at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.

First-year Taylor Forbes recorded 11.19 meters in the women’s triple jump, winning the event. Sophomore Jana Bruses followed suit, winning the 100 meter hurdles with a personal best 14.39 — the only athlete to run under 15 seconds in the event. Bruses also claimed bronze in the 400 meter hurdles.

In what was her first steeplechase competition of her career, junior Caroline Rusinski ran 11:08.41 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, ousting the other competitors by more than a minute.

Junior Mia Ingalls, a steeplechase rookie as well, ran 12:17.14 in the same race, posting a second-place finish.

In the discus throw, senior Lanie Bainter took second with a personal best of 39.89 meters, and first-year Mollie Carpenter took sixth with 35.78 meters. This was not Bainter’s only second-place finish of the day, however, with a new best of 50.77 meters in the hammer throw.

For the men, sophomore Ryan Cook placed second in the shot put with 15.81 meters and fifth in the hammer throw with 49.42 meters.

Sophomore Uri Arnon lept 13.92 meters for second in the men’s triple jump as well.

South Florida Invitational

This past weekend, the Panthers traveled to Tampa for the South Florida Invitational. Pitt was well-represented on the podium with eight finishes and three event wins. 

Junior Daniel Amaya won the men’s hammer throw with 61.65 meters. 

McQueen Jr. and Hussey continued their dominance with second-place finishes (10.14) and fourth-place finishes (10.26), respectively, in the 100 meter dash. Brown raced in the 200 meter, running 21.31, placing his name at the 10th spot on the all-time program ranks. 

Junior Malik Ricketts, senior Raymond Oriakhi, McDonough and sophomore Devin Nugent formed the first-place men’s 4×400 meter relay team, which ran a time of 3:10.50. 

For the women’s team, senior Foluke Olujide-Ajibade had a silver finish with 58.33 meters in the hammer throw. Bainter set a personal record of 51.78 meters, granting her sixth place and the eighth-best mark in program history. A throw of 51.08 gave Crawford the eighth-place spot. Crawford continued her success later in the discus throw with a sixth-place finish of 44.48 meters, placing her seventh in program history.

Lemongo used her personal best 15.68 meter throw to win the women’s shot put. Steigenga posted a season’s best mark of 6.45 meters in the long jump and finished second.

In the high jump, sophomore Alesia Rengle set a personal record of 1.75 meters, and sophomore Eva Baldursdottir hopped 1.70 meters to place third and fourth, respectively. With her mark, Rengle is now tied for fourth in program history.

First-year Somiyah Braggs excelled in the 100 meter and the 200 meter, running 11.61 and 23.86 respectively. Braggs finished second in the 100, setting a new best and tying for the sixth-best time in Pitt history.

To finish the meet, the 4×400 relay of junior Logan Neely, junior Caleia Johnson, sophomore Success Duruzor and Bottelier ran a time of 3:42.04 for a silver finish. 

The Panthers are back on April 12-14 at the Bucknell Outdoor Classic in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.