Track and field struggle at NCAA championships

Pitt’s indoor track and field teams have surpassed everyone’s expectations this season in… Pitt’s indoor track and field teams have surpassed everyone’s expectations this season in large part because of the contributions they have received from individual performers. Those same performers who helped Pitt earn national respect and a Big East Championship were brought back down to earth this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The men’s and women’s track teams were represented by four athletes at the NCAAs held at the University of Arkansas. For the first time all season, the Panthers failed to get the kind of performances necessary to compete against the nation’s best athletes, and they also fell victim to bad luck.

“Things didn’t go the way we wanted them to go,” head coach Alonzo Webb said. “We had a couple of really unfortunate things happen to us.”

Most devastating to the Panthers was the hip injury suffered by Maureen McCandless. She was one of the favorites in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter events, but she felt a sharp pain in her hip very early into the 5,000-meter event. Aware of her suffering, Webb pulled her from the event before she was able to finish. McCandless withdrew completely from the 3,000.

Although frustrated that she was unable to win an NCAA championship, McCandless did not go home completely empty-handed. Before the competitions began, the United States Track Coaches Association announced the Indoor Regional Athletes of the Year for NCAA Division I track and field. McCandless was given the Mid-Atlantic Regional Women’s Athlete of the Year award. Webb received the Coach of the Year honors.

Another senior, Tamara McGill, qualified for nationals in the pentathlon, and she wasted no time taking an early lead in the competition. McGill captured a personal record in the shot put, a performance that temporarily put her in first place. Unfortunately, she faltered in the closing events, finishing in 15th place overall.

Despite the bad luck, the Panthers managed to walk away from the championships with two All-Americans. Senior Amanda Walker competed in the shot put and weight throw competitions. She did not perform as well as she would have liked in the weight throw, but she captured a respectable fifth-place finish in the shot put, which earned her All-American status.

Sophomore Justin Clickett made it to the final round of the shot put event. He finished in ninth place, also earning him All-American honors.

Webb was happy for the All-Americans, but did not hide his disappointment either.

“It certainly was not a total waste, but I felt that we could have done much better,” he said. “As a team, we expected much more, possibly even a top-five finish.”

The Panthers, however, ended up tied for 43rd.

Although it was an anti-climactic end to an incredibly successful indoor season, Webb has reason to be optimistic. The Panthers are historically much stronger in the outdoor season than in indoor track.

“We cannot wait to begin the outdoor season,” he said. “Our athletes tend to be in better shape, and their times are faster. We expect to send many more athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.”

The men’s team is excited to embark on a possible Big East outdoor championship, while the women look to duplicate their indoor results.

Aside from having to deal with the elements, outdoor track and field is quite different from indoor. The size of the track is twice as big in outdoor track — a big difference psychologically. The shortest event indoors is 60 meters, whereas the shortest outdoor event is the 100-meter dash. There are also added events in outdoor track such as the steeplechase, javelin, discus and hammer throw.

The track athletes get one week off before traveling to North Carolina to compete in their first outdoor event of the season March 17 to 19 in the Charlotte 49er Classic.