Pitt track and field competes in Big East tournament

Pitt basketball might have defeated the University of Connecticut on the court last week, but… Pitt basketball might have defeated the University of Connecticut on the court last week, but the Huskies dominate on the track. Over the weekend, the men’s and women’s track teams traveled to The Armory in New York to compete in the 2009 Indoor Big East Championships. Individually, the Panthers garnered several first-place finishes. But both the men’s and women’s championship titles went to UConn for the second consecutive year. Despite not winning a team championship, several Panthers obtained season bests. Helping the Lady Panthers to place eighth overall, senior Janessa Murphy captured the long jump championship the first day, finishing with a season-best 6.29 meters. Sophomore Anita James also contributed, placing eighth in the long jump with a season-best mark of 5.67 meters. In the weight throw, Sarah Anderson attained a season-best with a mark of 16.24 meters. Mycaiah Clemons placed first in the 60-meter hurdles with a season-best and NCAA provisional time of 8.36 seconds. Clemons also placed top seven in the 200-meter dash after Cambrya Jones, who placed third, finishing in 24.11. Da’Lynn Mills took fourth at 24.19. Qualifying for the ECAC Championships, Jones placed seventh in the 60-meter dash, running for a season-best time of 7.62. Leading the Panthers in the triple jump, Wunmi Fapohunda took third with a mark of 12.11 meters followed by James and Murphy who placed eighth and ninth respectively. Placing 12th overall, the men’s team had several top-10 finishes. With a leap of 15.34, Eric Jones finished fourth in the triple jump. Anthony Hobwana ran a 6.90 in the 60-meter dash to place fifth overall. Both Jones and Hobwana qualified for the IC4A Championships in March. Also qualifying for the upcoming championship, Jermaine Lowery ran 48.75 in the 400-meter dash to finish seventh overall. Both the 4-by-400 and 4-by-800 relay teams placed eighth. On the field, Garret Larkin placed seventh while Dan Kwiatkowski took ninth. Larkin and Kwiatkowski qualified for the IC4A Championships. Qualifying Panthers will compete in the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Boston, Mass., March 7-8.