Q&A: Desiree Garland gets gold for Pitt
By David Leftwich | Senior Staff Writer
April 6, 2018
Senior Desiree Garland never intended to become a collegiate sprinter — she began her high school career as a jumper. But after she finished with the best 400-meter time in replacement of a missing teammate at one high school meet, Garland’s path as a sprinter was set. She claimed Pitt’s fi...
Dante Watson: Circling tracks and rounding the floor
By Trent Leonard | Staff Writer
January 19, 2018
Between lacing up his cleats for a race and spending late nights studying in Hillman, sophomore track athlete Dante Watson has a few other responsibilities: mediating disputes, doing rounds on dorm floors and being a good listener. In addition to being an athlete and a full-time student studying communic...
Weekend sports: Panthers flip out, fall short
By David Leftwich | Senior Staff Writer
January 16, 2018
While most of Oakland hunkered down because of the winter weather, three teams were in action on campus over the weekend. The track and field squad traveled to an equally snowy State College. The women’s basketball team earned its first ACC win, and the track and field team secured 22 top-five fi...
Q&A with sole sisters: From course to track, Vlasics have each other’s back
By Dominic Campbell | Staff Writer
October 19, 2017
Even though senior Melanie Vlasic is finishing up her final seasons with the women’s cross country and track and field teams, she has one particular teammate to look out for — her younger sister, Mikaela Vlasic. The Vlasic sisters hail from Hatfield, where they attended North Penn High School...
Seven Panthers qualify for NCAA Championships
By Dominic Campbell | Staff Writer
May 29, 2017
The Pitt Track and Field team had a successful weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Lexington, Kentucky and qualified seven runners for the NCAA Outdoor Championships held in Eugene, Oregon. On Thursday, sophomore distance runner Gillian Schriever and junior thrower Andin Fosam became the fir...
Glick, Newkirk, Palmer win at Louisville Invitational
By Dominic Campbell | Staff Writer
April 17, 2017
The Pitt track and field team traveled to the Bluegrass State this weekend for Louisville Invitational. In the city famous for the Kentucky Derby, first-year Drew Glick, junior Quadaisha Newkirk and senior Desmond Palmer ran well in this weekend’s meet, with all three completing the weekend with i...
Q&A: Joslin Sellers engineers final success on the track
By Mackenzie Rodrigues | Staff Writer
April 11, 2017
Senior distance runner Joslin Sellers has been carving out her spot on the track since the seventh grade. This year, as she finishes up a nearly ten-year running career, she solidified a high-ranking position in Pitt history after finishing the 2016-17 indoor season with not one but two record-breaki...
Pitt track travels to Florida, California
By Dominic Campbell | Staff Writer
April 3, 2017
The Panthers scattered over the country this weekend, with the the track and field team splitting up across three different meets in two different states. The majority of athletes made their way to Gainesville, Florida, for the 2017 Pepsi Florida Relays. The meet took place over three days this we...
TPN Panthers of the Month: Andin Fosam and Josh Falk
By Bayard Miller | Assistant Sports Editor
March 29, 2017
Andin Fosam Andin Fosam, a junior thrower from Robbinsville, New Jersey, had already proved before March that she was one of the best throwers in the ACC. After this month, though, Fosam now is considered one of the best in the country. At last month’s ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, Fosam finis...
Fosam, Michael-Khensu shine at CMU Invitational
By Dominic Campbell | Staff Writer
March 27, 2017
On a warm Friday and Saturday at Carnegie Mellon University’s Gesling Stadium, the Pitt track and field team finally got to compete close to home in its second meet of the outdoor season. The Panthers must have enjoyed the familiar setting, as multiple stadium records fell at the CMU Invitational over...
Kelly finishes first in 5000m at Yellow Jacket Invitational
By Dominic Campbell | Staff Writer
March 20, 2017
With a first-place finish from junior Amy Kelly and several Panthers placing in the top 10, Pitt track and field ran past the competition in Friday’s Yellow Jacket Invitational at Georgia Tech’s George C. Griffin Track in Atlanta. Kelly’s win — her top finish since last April — came in th...
Eight Panthers earn All-ACC status at ACC Indoor Championships
By Dominic Campbell | Staff Writer
February 27, 2017
Although nobody on the Pitt track and field team qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, several Panthers made it onto the medal stand at the ACC Indoor Championships last weekend. Overall, eight Pitt athletes achieved All-ACC recognition, 16 set personal bests and two broke school records. Still...
Palmer, Sellers achieve new heights at SPIRE Invitational
By Dominic Campbell | For The Pitt News
February 13, 2017
Pitt Track and Field outperformed much of the competition Friday and Saturday at the SPIRE Invitational in Geneva, Ohio, led by victories from seniors Desmond Palmer and Joslin Sellers. Palmer won the 300-meter Friday for the first time in his Pitt career in a personal-best time of 33.61 seconds. Sell...
Four Panthers victorious at PSU National Open
By Steve Rotstein | Sports Editor
January 30, 2017
Ariel Pastore-Sebring, already known by her cross country teammates as a “de facto” leader, is also setting an example on running away from the competition in the track and field circuit. Pastore-Sebring, a senior distance runner who is also a culture writer for The Pitt News, set a personal ...
Desmond Palmer sets school record in 600m at Nittany Lion Challenge
By Steve Rotstein | Sports Editor
January 17, 2017
Pitt senior Desmond Palmer is already a two-time NCAA All-American hurdler. Competing in the 600-meter race for the first time on Saturday, he proved he’s capable of making history as a traditional sprinter, too. Palmer broke the Pitt track and field program record in the 600m at the Nittany Lio...
Palmer and Newkirk pack powerful 1-2 punch for Panthers
By Steve Rotstein | Sports Editor
January 3, 2017
With Pitt’s 2016-17 indoor track and field season getting into full swing, two athletes stick out as names to watch: Desmond Palmer and Quadaisha Newkirk. Palmer, a senior from Pickerington, Ohio, is already established as one of the Panthers’ most accomplished track stars. Newkirk, meanwhile, is a ...
Pitt’s Desmond Palmer named second-team All-American
By Steve Rotstein / Sports Editor
June 13, 2016
Pitt’s Desmond Palmer is now a three-time NCAA Outdoor Track and Field All-American. Palmer earned second-team All-America honors this season after falling just short of making the men’s 400 meter hurdle finals at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Wednesday in Eugene, Ore...
Palmer leads Panthers to Outdoor Track and Field Nationals
By Steve Rotstein / Sports Editor
May 31, 2016
Junior Desmond Palmer is going back to TrackTown USA, and this time he’s bringing three teammates with him to Oregon. Four Pitt Panthers qualified for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Jacksonville, Florida, this weeke...
Track and Field: Spratling runs in a Pitt uniform for the last time
By Jasper Wilson / Sports Editor
July 1, 2014
Brycen Spratling can’t stop running, not that he wants to.The former Pitt sprinter and collegiate All-American came in fourth in the 400 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 13. Over the weekend, he finished seventh in the same event at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Sacram...
Track and Field: Five Panthers compete at Nationals
By Megan Boyle / Staff Writer
June 17, 2014
Time proved to be the toughest opponent for the five Pitt athletes who traveled to Eugene, Ore., to compete in the NCAA Outdoor National Championships.“There is a very small margin for error, especially competing at this level,” head coach Alonzo Webb said. “A lot of races are won or lost by hun...
Track and Field: Best in the East, five Pitt athletes qualify for Nationals
By Megan Boyle / Staff Writer
June 3, 2014
Twelve members of the men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Jacksonville, Fla. to compete in the Division I Outdoor East Regional Championships. East Regionals occurred over the weekend and consisted of the preliminary, first round and quarterfinal round for each individual event. Ha...