With the regular season coming to a close, the Pitt indoor track and field team heads for… With the regular season coming to a close, the Pitt indoor track and field team heads for the Big East championships with a lot of confidence.

After another successful meet at Penn State on Feb. 14 to 15, the team is heading in the right direction according to head coach Alonzo Webb.

“The team is coming together at the right time,” Webb said “In our last meet, we had 24 individual improvements that solidified placement in the Big East.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise comes for the women’s team. The women currently have two top seeds in events and one second place seed that is only one-hundredth of a meter from first.

Leading the Panthers will be the trio of Amanda Walker, Tamara McGill and Melanie Carter. Walker has the top seed in the shot put and the ninth seed in the weight throw, while teammate Carter holds the top spot in the triple jump as well as the ninth seed in the long jump. McGill will be the No. 2 seed for the women’s high jump as well as the fourth seed in the pentathlon.

Sophomore Kimberly Lyles has the eighth seed in the 60-meter dash, while in the 60-meter hurdles, Nicole Vann owns the fourth fastest clocking at 8.56 seconds.

Junior sprinter Trenace Elliott dashed to the fourth best time in the 500-meter race with her 1 minute, 13.26 seconds performance at the Penn State National Open Feb. 1. Middle distance specialist Elizabeth Bayne owns the No. 5 seed in the 800-meter run after she posted her fastest time as a Panther last weekend at Penn State.

The women’s 4 x 400 meter team earned the fifth seed in the conference also because of last weekend’s breakout meet at Penn State. Rounding out the seeding for the women’s team is freshman pole-vaulter Marissa Dudek, who posted the fifth highest vault in the conference.

On the men’s side, the picture is promising for the young team.

Freshman Jeffrey Kiss will be the 10th seed in the 60-meter high hurdles. In the 200-meter race, Pitt has two solid representatives. Freshman Chris Anderson has the number eight seed where as teammate Andy Jones holds the 11th fastest clocking.

Troy Roberson leads the Pitt men in the 400-meter race with the eighth seed in a time of 48.28 seconds. In the middle distance events, sophomore Jeryl Wilborn has the fifth seed in the 800-meter race as well as the 11th seed in the 1,000-meters.

In the jump events, Shawndel Daniels has the sixth seed, with teammate Alvin Jones holding the eighth seed in the same event.

Pole-vaulter Matt Brousse has the 11th best vault at 4.80 meters and Mike Stellefson grabbed the six seed in the shot put.

In the relay events, the men’s 4 x 400 meter relay team clocked in with the fourth seed, and the distance medley team owns the fifth seed.

“I do expect our team to perform well,” Webb said. “I know we’re going to do some good things this weekend.”