Both the men’s and women’s Pitt track and field teams had three people place in… Both the men’s and women’s Pitt track and field teams had three people place in the top five in various events when the Panthers competed in the Penn State National Open over the weekend.

Team scores weren’t tallied, but more than 50 teams competed in the event, and many Panthers on both teams qualified for events later in the indoor season.

For the men, sophomore Dontave Cowsette came in second place in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:50.68. Meanwhile, fellow sophomore Elliot Rhodes finished fourth in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:04.60, qualifying him for the IC4A Championships March 6-7 in Boston, an event after the regular season that is the precursor to the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Joining him in Boston will be Folarin Ijelu and Garrett Larkin. Ijelu finished fifth in the triple jump, leaping a distance 15.02 meters. In the shot put, Larkin placed ninth with a distance of 16.32 meters.

Also competing for the men were Teddy Miller and Josh Christopher in the 5,000-meter run. Miller finished 11th, while Christopher finished 13th. Kevin Wilbank placed 18th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.67 seconds.

For the women, junior Da’Lynn Mills finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.24 seconds and Cambrya Jones placed seventh with a time of 24.55. Mills had already qualified for ECAC Championships March 6-7 in Boston, the women’s equivalent of the IC4A Championships, at the Kent State Golden Flash Gala Dec. 12.

Sophomore Miya Johnson came in third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.64, and senior Kari Hedderick came in fourth in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:15.49. Both earned a bid to the ECAC Championships.

Qualifying for the Big East Indoor Championships, Feb. 20-21 in New York, were senior Kaetlyn Brown and junior Wunmi Fapohunda. Brown finished 10th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.38 seconds, and Fapohunda finished 10th in the triple jump with a distance of 11.45 meters.

Next, the Panthers travel to New York this weekend for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational starting on Friday where they’ll take part in another meet with more than 50 other schools.