Track and field: Panthers see ‘improvement’ at Illinois tournament

Although it’s only January, Pitt’s track and field season is already underway.

The team… Although it’s only January, Pitt’s track and field season is already underway.

The team competed in the Carle/Health Alliance Classic at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Ill. this past weekend. The men’s team finished second and the women came in sixth.

For the men, junior Dontave Cowsette won the 600-meter run with a dominating final time of 1 minute, 20.42 seconds.

“Last year, as a freshman, he had a tough time adjusting,” coach Alonzo Webb said. “We knew he was talented, but he just had to get a year under his belt, and this year he’s gone to a different level and he competed very well.”

Sophomore Jermaine Lowery came in fifth place in the 400-meter, running it in 49.78 seconds. His time was good enough to qualify him for the Big East Outdoor Championships in late April.

On the womens side, junior Victoria Toso won the pole vault with a height of 3.35 meters, while senior Erinn McMahon came in second place in the pentathlon with 3,104 points. Her second-place finish in the event came in large part because of her stellar performances in the high jump, long jump and shot put.

While the Panthers were unable to finish in first place, Webb said that was never the actual goal. Early season meets such as this one are more about personal improvement than beating the host team, which almost always has a decisive advantage.

“We didn’t go into the meet with any expectations at all,” Webb said. “We were looking for improvements.”

The Panthers travel to State College, Pa. for the Penn State National Open this weekend. While the meets up to this point have had more of an exhibition-like feel to them, this weekend marks the first meet where the team will be looking for results.

“We’re really trying to prepare ourselves for the next meet. This coming weekend is the weekend where we’re looking to have good performances from everybody,” Webb said. “It usually gives us an indication of how well our team’s going to do the rest of the season.”