Women’s track places first at Clemson

Both the men?s and women?s track teams competed in the Clemson Invitational over the weekend…. Both the men?s and women?s track teams competed in the Clemson Invitational over the weekend. The women placed first in the meet with a score of 273.50, with Clemson coming in second with 217.50 points.

The men placed in third with 92.50 points, behind Clemson who scored 258 points and Illinois who scored 182 points.

“[The women] just really stood up big,? head coach Alonzo Webb said.

“It was an excellent meet for the whole team.?

Women

The women finished in first place in 12 of the 19 events. Tamara McGill finished in first place in three events ? the 100-meter hurdles, the high jump and the long jump. She ran the 100-meter hurdles in 13.74 seconds and qualified for the NCAA Regionals in the event.

Elizabeth Bayne won the 400-meter hurdles, adding 10 points to the Panthers? total. She ran the event in 59.61.

In the 100-meter dash, Kimberly Lyles and Lamoy Stephens finished in first place in their heat, while compiling 18 points for Pitt?s overall score. Lyles ran the 100 meters in 11.75 seconds and Stephens ran it in 11.60 seconds. Both qualified for NCAA Regionals in the event.

“Normally, [first place winners] don?t come out of the second heat,? Webb said.

Lyles also came in first place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.87 seconds. Stephens ran the distance in 24.27 seconds and placed third.

Trenace Elliott earned the Panthers 10 points when she ran the 400-meter dash in 55.38 seconds, which was first among all contenders. Lauren Tyler came in sixth with a time of 57.23 and earned three more points for Pitt.

In the 800-meter run, the Panthers had no one finish in first or second place, but they owned the third- and fourth-place slots. Kristen Epps came in third with a time of 2:15.14 and Maureen McCandless placed fourth with 2:15.43.

McCandless also placed first in the 1500-meter run. Her time in the event was 4:28.41.

Pitt placed second in both the 4×100 and the 4×400-meter relays. In the 4×100, Panthers Elliot, Lyles, Stephens and Vann combined for a time of 45.52.

Men

The men finished in first place in only two of the 19 events.

The javelin was one of the events in which the Panthers placed first. Pitt also took second and third place in the event.

Mike Kennedy finished in first with a distance of 69.94 meters. Tony Bonura came in second and Corey Keuhner was third with distances of 64.29 and 60.20 meters respectively.

Kennedy?s distance of 69.94 meters not only qualified him for NCAA Regionals in the javelin, but also broke the old meet record of 68.40 meters.

“I was standing right there when he threw it,? Webb said. “It was a phenomenal throw.?

Webb explained how the javelin traveled so far that it went out of the area provided for the javelin competition and into the discus circle.

The other first place score came from Troy Roberson in his 400-meter run, finishing the race in 47.21 seconds. He also set a personal best in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.85.

The Panthers are back in action on Friday and Saturday at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn.