Track keeps quick pace

Pitt head track coach Alonzo Webb enjoyed his Memorial Day weekend, but not in the… Pitt head track coach Alonzo Webb enjoyed his Memorial Day weekend, but not in the traditional poolside barbecue sense.

“It was a real fun weekend,” Webb said. “We got…kids into the national championships, so it was really exciting.”

Webb is referring to both his men’s and women’s track teams’ performances at the National Collegiate Athletic Association East Regional Championships in Greensboro, N.C., over the weekend.

The event served as the qualifying meet for the NCAA National Championships starting June 7.

The Panther women who earned automatic bids for the national competition were Marissa Dudek in pole vault, Maureen McCandless in the 5000-meter run and Julianna Reed in the 400-meter hurdles.

The men automatically qualified sprinter Mike Wray in the 110-meter hurdles, pole-vaulter Keith Higham and thrower Tony Bonura in the javelin. Sam Bair earned an at-large bid in the 1,500-meter run.

Although the Panthers did wonderfully individually, they also impressed their coach as a whole unit. The women finished in 10th place and the men in ninth, both accumulating 21 total points.

“The biggest thing was both our teams finished top-10 in the region and there’s 112 teams in the region,” Webb said. “I don’t think there’s many teams that had both men and women finish in the top 10, so that was pretty exciting to see that.”

Hosted by North Carolina A’T State University, the event saw McCandless, the Bensalem, Pa., native, continue to one-up herself in national competition. The two-time All-American broke her previous school record of 16:11.24 in the 5000 meters and set the new bar at 16:01.30.

McCandless earned second place in the event and was the first of the Pitt women to earn an automatic national bid. Each of top-five finishers in every event earned an automatic bid, while the rest of the field must wait to qualify at-large for nationals.

Eight of Pitt’s current women’s track records are held by McCandless, and from what the senior has been showing Webb this year, he sees no reason why there shouldn’t be a bigger record under her belt after next week’s competition.

“Maureen, I wouldn’t be surprised if she won the national championship,” Webb remarked. “If she runs her race she could very well be a national champion, or at least top-three.”

McCandless’s race is indeed the 5000 meters, the event in which she earned Big East All-Conference status earlier this spring and placed third in the 2006 National Indoor Championships earlier this year — and impressive showing considering she was coming off a knee injury.

“She had the opportunity indoors coming off an injury,” Webb said. “She’s ready to do big things outdoors.

“She brings a tremendous amount of leadership. People follow her.”

People also followed Reed — most of the other competitors in the 400 hurdles. Reed’s record-breaking time of 57.45 earned her a bid in nationals for the second year in a row after winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference title in the event earlier this month.

“I think Julianna Reed is going to do very well in the 400 hurdles,” Webb said. “I could see her being All-American this year.”

The All-American tag is familiar to Dudek as well. Finishing fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 3.96 meters, Dudek was an Indoor All-American this year before winning the ECAC outdoor pole vault title, and the third Panther woman to earn an automatic national bid.

For the men, Bonura earned his second berth in the national championships, finishing fourth in the javelin, throwing a 70.25. Bonura holds the school record in the javelin and was also honored as an All-American in the event last year.

Without the decoration of the previous competitors, sophomore Mike Wray is well on his way. Wray came out of nowhere to finish fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 13.70.

“The biggest surprise to me was Mike Wray,” Webb said. “He came into the meet number 65 on the national list and I believe right now he’s number seven.

“For one reason or another he was having bad luck [earlier this season]. This weekend he put it all together.”

Experienced or not, Webb knows exactly how to prepare an athlete for an event like nationals.

“You tell them it’s just another meet and just do what they did to get them there and they’ll be fine,” Webb said. “When they’re not putting any more pressure on themselves they’ll compete very well.”

The national competitors will flock to Sacramento, Calif., next Wednesday to begin the NCAA National Championship.