Pitt Wins First Big East Outdoor Track & Field Title in 11 Years
5/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Pitt Wins First Big East Outdoor Track & Field Title in 11 Years
5/9/2005
The 2005 Big East Outdoor Track & Field champion Pitt Panthers. |
PISCATAWAY, N.J.?After winning the Big East Conference indoor title earlier this season, the Pitt women's track & field team placed first at this past weekend's Big East Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at the Bauer Track & Field Complex on the campus of Rutgers University.
The Panthers scored 176 points, one shy of the meet record and more than 60 points better than their nearest competitor, Notre Dame. It was Pitt's first outdoor title since 1994 and the fourth in the program's history.
In addition to the team title, the Panthers' coaches, headed by Alonzo Webb, were named the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year, and senior Kimberly Lyles (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) was named the Big East Outstanding Track Performer of the Year. Lyles is the Panthers' first Outstanding Track Performer since Debbie Bonner in 1989.
Lyles won the 200-meter dash this past weekend with an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 23.83 seconds and earned a second All-Big East honor in the 100-meter dash after finishing third with a time of 11.9 seconds. Also earning an All-Big East honor in the 200 was freshman Shantea Calhoun (New Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross), who finished third with a time of 24.17 seconds.
Senior Tamara McGill (Franklin Park, N.J./Franklin Township) earned her second straight heptathlon title, taking first place in four of the seven events to place first overall with 5,407 points, breaking her previous meet record set last year. McGill also earned an All-Big East honor in the 100-meter hurdles by finishing third with a time of 13.71 seconds, qualifying her for the NCAA Regionals.
The Panthers finished 1-2 in the 400-meter hurdles to add another 18 points to the team total. Sophomore Julianna Reed (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) and freshman Martina Hallman (Miami, Fla./Miami Southside) finished in 59.42 seconds and 1:00.54, respectively, to earn NCAA Regional qualifying times. It was Reed's first Big East outdoor title.
Pitt won its first relay title in five years, taking first place in the 4x400 meter relay. The team of Lyles, Shanea Calhoun (New Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross), Reed and Shantea Calhoun qualified for the NCAA Regionals with a time of 3:40.84, almost two seconds faster than Georgetown's second-place team.
Junior Marissa Dudek (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) won her second pole vault title in three years for the Panthers, planting at 3.8 meters to tie a stadium record and qualify for the NCAA Regionals. Hallman and Lamoy Stephens (Westmoreland, Jamaica/Stephen's) both earned All-Big East honors in the long jump by placing second and third, respectively, with jumps of 6.01 and 5.99 meters. Stephens also earned all-conference honors in the triple jump with a third-place finish, jumping 12.29 meters.
Indoor All-American Amanda Walker (Hampton, Va./Bethel) stayed on course for a second consecutive top-eight finish in the shot put by winning this past weekend's competition with a toss of 16.17 meters. Walker earned a second All-Big East honor in the hammer throw by finishing third with 52.91 meters.
The final Pitt event winner was junior Jill Knopsnyder (Somerset, Pa./Somerset) in the javelin throw. Her toss of 43.47 meters in her fifth of six tries was good enough for an NCAA Regional qualifying standard and for her first outdoor title.
The Panthers will participate in next weekend's ECAC Championships in their last chance to qualify for the NCAA Regionals on May 27-28.