Track competes in two meets

The Pitt track and field teams split their squads for the weekend, competing in two… The Pitt track and field teams split their squads for the weekend, competing in two separate meets on opposite sides of the country and earning mixed results.

In Palo Alto, Calif., a small group of distance runners took to the track for Pitt at the Stanford Invitational, while the majority of the team competed in Raleigh, N.C., at the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State University.

At Stanford, the distance team faced some of the best distance runners in the country, and performed admirably despite the level of competition present at the event. Sophomore Maureen McCandless led the Panthers as she raced to a 10th place finish in the women’s 5,000-meter race with a time of 16 minutes, 37.67 seconds.

On the men’s side for the Panthers, Deon Bascom and Jeryl Wilborn ran to 22nd and 23rd places respectively in the 800 meters, registering times of 1:53.40 and 1:53.76.

In Raleigh, it was a little different for the Panthers, as the majority of the team was on hand to compete. The women’s team continued to show promise as it posted six top 10 finishes in the event.

Junior Elizabeth Bayne took top individual honors as she posted a fourth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 59.89 seconds. Kimberly Lyles sprinted to a fifth place finish in the 200, in a time of 24.36, while teammate Trenace Elliott’s time of 54.98 seconds was good enough for another fifth place finish for the Panthers.

In the relay events, the Panthers showed they have some speed as they posted two second place finishes on the afternoon. First, the women’s 4 x 400 meter relay team of Elliott, Lauren Tyler, Lamoy Stephens and Lyles posted a time of 3:43.25, which earned the Panthers their first second place showing. Then the 1,600-meter sprint medley team of Lyles, Stephens, Elliott and Bayne earned Pitt’s only other second place finish in a time of 4:00.48.

As for the men in Raleigh, they continued to post consistent times and distances.

Senior Shawn Paronish earned the top individual honors for the men’s team as he threw to a seventh place finish in the javelin, with a distance of 62.78 meters. The men’s 1,600-meter sprint medley team of Chris Anderson, Andy Jones, Troy Roberson and Andy Zang matched Paronish’s seventh place finish with a time 3:27.06.

Junior Matt Brousse continued to vault well as he posted a mark of 4.80 meters, which earned him a 10th place finish. The men’s 4 x 400 team of Roberson, Jones, Shawndel Daniel and Anderson raced to a time of 3:14.01, which was also good enough for 10th place.

“We’re performing consistently while competing in big meets,” head coach Alonzo Webb said. “We’re getting them used to competing in big meets so when the Big East Championships roll around we’ll be able qualify a lot more athletes for the championship meet and then ultimately send more athletes to nationals as well.”

The Panthers return to action this weekend as they travel to Austin, Texas, to compete in the Texas Relays hosted by the University of Texas.