March 7, 2008
Members of the Pitt men's track and field team will compete in the IC4A Championships on March 8-9 in Boston, Mass. The men came away from the Big East Championships with a seventh-place overall finish in addition to several league titles and honors.
Leading the Panthers in sprints, Anthony Hobwana (Harare, Zimbabwe/Prince Edward School) posted a provisional mark of 6.81 to qualify in the 60-meter dash competition.
In distance events, the senior trio of Sam Bair (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kent State), Eric Fleming (West Chester, PA/Bishop Shanahan) and Eric Burnett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) are set to compete in the 1,000-meters. Bair and Fleming also posted qualifying times for the mile, with Bair also qualifying in the 3,000 meters. Senior Curtis Larimer (Colorado Springs, Colo./Palmer) will represent the Panthers in the 5,000-meter event.
All-American Mike Wray (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) continues to dominate the 60-meter hurdle competition, capturing his third-straight league title at the Big East Championships with a time of 7.75.
Pitt will have both junior Eric Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Gateway) and sophomore Brandon Turner (North Wales, PA/North Penn) competing in the triple jump. Jones captured the triple jump title at the league championships with a distance of 15.26 meters.
Other key contributors for the Panthers will be junior Ron Walter (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and senior A.J. Kielinski (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic). Walter is slated to compete in the pole vault after posting a qualifying mark of 4.80 meters earlier this season. Kielinski claimed a third-place finish in the weight throw event with a distance of 18.58 meters at the league championships and will also participate in the shot put.
Additionally, Pitt will be sending the team of Burnett, Taylor, Fleming and Bair to compete in the 4x800-meter relay.
