Panthers split up for successful weekend

Unlike planning for a football or basketball game, preparing for several track and field meets… Unlike planning for a football or basketball game, preparing for several track and field meets at the same time can be tedious.

Members of Pitt’s track and field teams parted ways late last week to participate in three different meets across the nation. The teams competed in the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C., and the Aggie Invitational in Greensboro, N.C.

‘It’s a challenging process for the coaching staff and team,’ said head track and field coach Alonzo Webb. ‘I took the relay teams, some hurdlers and jumpers with me to Texas for the relays, while the jumping coach had the other hurdlers and sprinters in North Carolina. It’s a difficult process, but we coordinate as a staff and figure out what we’d like to accomplish.’

Although Webb could not be with all of his teams, he hoped that they would obtain qualifying marks at their respective meets. He was not disappointed.

In a four-day meet lasting April 1-4, several Panthers had noteworthy performances. In Texas, Da’Lynn Mills, Brianna Broyles, Raquel Bender and Cambrya Jones captured fifth place for the women in the 4×200 meter relay finals with a time of 1 minute, 38.90 seconds.

Mycaiah Clemons finished 12th in the preliminaries for the 100-meter hurdles with an NCAA qualifying time of 13.83. Clemons ran a personal best of 13.29 in the final, which, according to Webb, is one of the top 10 times in the country.

‘Clemons had a tremendous performance and a huge personal best,’ said Webb. ‘We knew she put in work, but we didn’t expect to see these results so early in the season, especially since she hit some hurdles along the way.’

Pitt’s men also had top finishes, as freshman Dontave Cowsette tied for fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:53.97. Seconds behind Cowsette, freshman Brione Reid-Carthan took 15th place with a time of 1:56.69.

The 4×400 relay team consisting of three freshmen and one sophomore also ran its fastest time of the year.

‘The men ran well in the 4×400, and being so young, their accomplishments made for an encouraging future,’ said Webb.

Alone in the Texas field events, Eric Jones placed 12th in the triple jump with a distance of 14.68 meters.

While Webb advised and encouraged the Panthers in Texas, other members of the teams were excelling in North Carolina.

At Duke University’s Wallace Wade Stadium, Pitt’s men dominated the 10,000.

Junior Josh Christopher led the Panthers finishing second overall with a time of 30:58.42. Teddy Mille placed ninth, and Curtis Larimer and Kyle Kaminski finished in 31:58.81 and 32:28.91, respectively.

The Lady Panthers paced each other in the mid-distance events.

In the 800, Gizelle Joshua placed 13th with a time of 2:13.88 followed closely by Miya Johnson, who took 16th with a time of 2:14.10, and Kari Hedderick, who finished 18th with a time of 2:14.34. Susan Martinez and Ali Briggs weren’t far behind, coming in 36th and 40th with a time of 2:20.23 and 2:25.35, respectively.

As members of Pitt dominated distance events in Durham, even more Panthers were one hour away obtaining qualifying marks.

For the women, Jazmin Hunt and Caitlyn Cocilova both placed well in hurdling events. Hunt took 14th in the 100 hurdles while Cocilova took eighth in the 400 hurdles.

With a time of 11:47.93, Melissa Vignetti finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The Lady Panthers owned the field events.

Sarah Anderson placed second in the hammer throw with a meet-breaking mark of 48.65 meters.

Pitt took three of the top five places in the javelin, with Nicole Cherry leading the way with a first-place mark of 47.69 — a meet record. Kelsey Voltz and Leah Ulizio finished third and fifth, respectively. Kari Weimerskirch was third in the high jump with a mark of 1.63, while Anita James finished fourth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump.

Tori Toso, Janelle Adams and Carrie Mavrikis finished second, third and fifth in the pole vault.

Like in Durham, the male Panthers in Greensboro excelled in distance events.

Greg Kareis placed second in the 3,000 with a time of 8:39.13, breaking the meet record. In the 3,000′ steeplechase, Matt Norwood finished second and John Morrow fifth with times of 9:55.33 and 10:14.46, respectively.

On the field, Brandon Turner finished sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 14.60.

Floarin Ijelu and Jay Pittenger finished ninth and 10th in the high jump. Ijelu also finished 10th in the long jump with a leap of 6.64.

Brandon Turner finished sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 14.60.

Kurt Barnhart was seventh in the discus with a mark of 41.15, while Garrett Larkin was fifth in the hammer throw with a distance of 44.67.

Matt Raquet’s meet-breaking throw of 58.81 in the javelin gave him second place, while Dan Kwiatkowski placed fifth with a throw of 15.65.

Despite the distance, Webb says that the weekend was fairly successful.

‘We wanted to get some good performances and make qualifying marks,’ said Webb. ‘Although the relay teams in Texas didn’t do as well as I hoped, some individuals had personal bests, and several members of the team obtained qualifying marks for the Big East and ECAC championship meets.’

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