Track and field gears up for Big Easts

Track and field coach Alonzo Webb wasn’t concerned with how his team finished at the… Track and field coach Alonzo Webb wasn’t concerned with how his team finished at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup competition in State College this past weekend — he just wanted his team to take it easy.

The Panthers returned to Penn State this weekend to participate in their final meet of the regular indoor track and field season. The outcome of the competition was a third-place finish for the No. 20 women’s team and a seventh-place finish for the men. The results, though not breathtaking, were just fine with Webb, who used the meet entirely as a warm-up for this weekend’s Big East Championships in Syracuse, N.Y.

“The meet went well,” Webb said. “We were not concerned with winning or achieving a high team score. We had many of our athletes running under their normal distances and in only one or two events, max. We took it easy this weekend.”

Despite the laid-back approach, many Panthers still set personal and school records at Penn State. The most outstanding performer of the weekend was senior Amanda Walker, who triumphed in both the shot put and the weight-throw competitions. Her throws of 16.55 meters and 20.71 meters were personal bests and school records, and automatically qualified her for the NCAA championships.

Senior Maureen McCandless, who ranks first in the nation in the 5,000 meters, proved that she is a master of many events by winning the mile run. Her time of 4:44 is a new school record and qualified her for the NCAA provisional standard. Another senior, Lamoy Stephens, took third place in the long jump and also captured an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.

While the seniors set the standard, many of the underclassmen followed suit. A few of these athletes also delivered notable performances, including junior Marissa Dudek and sophomore Krystal Epps. Dudek followed up on her winning performance last week by capturing first place in the pole vault event with a mark of 3.91 meters. Epps set a new Pitt record in the 600 meters, also finishing first with a time of 1:33.12.

Sophomore Justin Clickett, who ranks sixth in the country in the shot put event, led the men’s squad on the weekend. Clickett not only won his event, but also became the first thrower in Pitt history to go over the 60-foot mark.

Webb has been preparing his team for this weekend’s Big East Championship for many weeks now, this past meet being the final tune-up. He said his team is “rounding into shape” and should be competitive.