Following a month-long hiatus, the Pitt indoor track and field team returned to action only… Following a month-long hiatus, the Pitt indoor track and field team returned to action only to find that it hadn’t lost a step over its competition.

With five first place finishes, three runner-up titles and two third place finishes, the team continued to impress its coaching staff despite the long layoff.

“Coming into this meet I was really unsure about how our team would perform after being away for so long,” head coach Alonzo Webb said.

And the team didn’t disappoint as Matt Brousse, Trenace Elliot and Tamara McGill came away with first place finishes for the Panthers. The men’s 4×400 team of Jeryl Wilborn, Ryan Smith, Troy Roberson and Anthony Pelham as well as the women’s 4×400 team of Janine Jones, Erica Johnson, Elizabeth Bayne and Elliot also brought home top finishes.

Brousse, who won the men’s pole vault event, also secured himself a spot in the upcoming Big East Conference Championships, while Elliot dashed to a personal best in the women’s 200 meters. McGill, who placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles a month ago on the same track, won the event and lowered her Big East Conference and Eastern College Athletic Conference qualifying time to 8.74 seconds.

In the men’s 4×400 meter race, the team of Wilborn, Smith, Roberson and Pelham slashed over two seconds off its current Big East and Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America qualifying mark of 3 minutes, 14.38 seconds.

Teammates Elliot and Bayne, who competed on the champion women’s 4×400 team, also made a big impact for the Panthers’ team score as they placed in three events. Ambrose, like Elliot, did bring home an individual third place in the women’s 400 meters.

“I was really impressed with our multi-event athletes, like Elliot, Joelle Ambrose and Razwell Reed” Webb noted. “I really like their progress and how they compete.”

Amanda Walker improved on her fourth place finish from a month ago in the women’s shot put as she took home second in the event while Ambrose snatched third place in the women’s pentathlon.

Wilborn, who also turned in a multi-event effort, ran to a second place finish in the men’s 400 in a time of 48.83 seconds.

“We still have a lot of work to do as far as reaching our goals, but we will have an opportunity this weekend to compete against some high quality competition,” Webb added. “We’re really preparing for this weekend and have high expectations despite the level of competition that will be there this weekend.”

The Panthers return to action this weekend as they travel to Blacksburg, Va., to compete in the Virginia Tech Invite.