Track and field readies for outdoor season

Spring has arrived and with it, the joggers, the sunglasses and the mini-skirts.

Yet for… Spring has arrived and with it, the joggers, the sunglasses and the mini-skirts.

Yet for track and field aficionados, spring also marks the arrival of the outdoor track season.

Pitt track celebrated spring’s arrival, transitioning from indoor to outdoor track at the Fred Hardy Invitational in Richmond, Va.

Last weekend’s meet was the first of the new season for Pitt following a successful indoor campaign.

The Panthers hope to build off of that momentum.

So far, Pitt appears to have wasted little time in their attempts of equaling or surpassing the success they achieved during the indoor season.

Of the two squads, the women’s team was most impressive at the Fred Hardy, winning four events, including the 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles, high jump and hammer throw.

The reigning back-to-back Big East Outdoor Champions have high expectations for another outdoor season.

Junior Shantea Calhoun got things off to a quick start by winning the 400-meters with a personal-best time of 55.67.

The Panthers had two additional top-10 place winners in the event.

Shanea Calhoun took fifth at 58.15, and Raquel Bender came in seventh at 58.38.

Senior Julianna Reed, the reigning school-record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, won that event with a time of 1:00.33.

Right behind her and finishing second was Selena Sappleton at 1:02.49.

Freshman Kendall Butch won the high jump with a height of 1.65 meters.

She also finished second in the pole vault with a height of 3.35 meters.

Senior Kim Rorabaugh took first in the hammer throw with a distance of 51.92 meters.

The Panther women also ran strong in the 10,000 meters as Nikki Bielick, Suzy Bossart and Monica Bhattacharjee took the second, fourth and fifth places, respectively.

The men’s team also has high hopes for the outdoor track season.

In addition to Mike Wray and Sam Bair, the team’s leaders and star athletes, the team expects big things from senior Tim Konoval and Eric Fleming who are returning 1,500-meter regional qualifiers.

For at least one meet, however, no one shone brighter for the men than Eric Jones and Andy Tomaswick.

In the triple jump, Jones took second with a distance of 13.95 meters.

Tomaswick also came in second, but in the 10,000 meters with a time of 31:33.42.

Also running well for the men was Mike Long, who took third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:35.59.

Long holds the school record in the steeplechase with a time of 9:15.92.

In the field events, A.J. Kielinski placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 44.38 meters and also finished fourth in the hammer throw.

The men also raced two relays at the Invitational.

In the 1,600-meter relay, the team took sixth with a time of 3:26.56 and, in the 3,200-meter relay, Pitt came in fifth at 8:25.97.

With a tune-up now behind them, the Panthers’ next competition will take place this coming weekend at the Asics Liberty Invitational and the Stanford Invitational.