Clickett gets top honors in Big East

Although neither the men’s nor the women’s track and field teams managed a Big East Indoor… Although neither the men’s nor the women’s track and field teams managed a Big East Indoor Championship, the Panthers still left their mark in Akron, Ohio.

Justin Clickett earned Most Outstanding Field Performer after a stellar weekend, making him the first Pitt athlete to get the honor since Jim Monk received it in 1993.

The 2005 All-American placed first in the shot put with a mark of 18.33 meters, beating his nearest competitor by 1.34 meters. Clickett also placed third in the weight throw.

“We knew it was going to be a tough competition, but Justin went out there and competed like a champion and took care of business,” head coach Alonzo Webb said. “I was real proud of him and real happy that he claimed another Big East title.”

The women’s indoor track team entered competition as the defending Big East champion, but couldn’t pull off the repeat. They ended up third out in the 16-team field. The men finished 12th out of 16 teams.

“Overall, I was pretty happy, especially on the women’s side. We lost six Big East champions from the team last year,” Webb said. “We didn’t have a perfect meet and I knew we would have to be pretty close to perfect to win it.”

Joining Clickett in the spotlight for the men were Keith Higham and Mike Wray. Higham won the pole vault, and Wray took first in the hurdles with a 7.93 time that tied his personal best.

For the women, the only athlete to win an event in the tournament was Marissa Dudek, who claimed the women’s pole vault. Dudek upset heavily favored freshman Mary Saxer of Notre Dame – a high school record holder – in the event to take her third career indoor title. She cleared 4.12 meters.

“Marissa really impressed me because this is the best I’ve seen her in her four years,” Webb said. “This is the most competitive I’ve seen her ever. I knew she was going to compete very well, but I just didn’t know how well.”

Shantea and Shanea Calhoun finished fourth (7.53 seconds) and fifth (7.60), respectively, in the 60 meters.

Pitt’s 4×800 relay team of Abby Zaylor, Selena Sappleton, Ali Briggs and Krystal Epps finished sixth with a time of 9:14.56. The 4×400 team of the Calhouns, Juliana Reed and Martina Hallman finished fourth, clocking in at 3:45.23.

Notre Dame won the women’s competition with a total score of 109.50. Pitt nearly ended up in second place in the meet, as they finished a single point behind Georgetown.

For the men, distance runners Sam Bair and Tim Konoval finished fourth and fifth respectively in the mile. Competing with a broken hand, Bair completed the mile in 4:04.49, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Konoval finished in 4:05.25.

The 4×800 relay team of Bair, Konoval, James Stratton and Kevin Gilpatrick finished in sixth with a time of 7:42.70. Kareem Cousar, Chris Anderson, Sam Perkins and Troy Roberson made up a 4×200 relay team that finished in 3:16.78, good enough for sixth place.

Connecticut won the men’s meet with 135 points.

Both track teams will compete in one last meet to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which take place March 10 and 11. The teams will travel to South Bend, Ind., for the Alex Wilson Invitational on March 3 and 4.