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Penn State Relays
Panthers Tally Four First Place Finishes at PSU Relays
1/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Highlighted by victories from Andrew Wells, Brylan Slay, Ariel Pastore-Sebring and the women's 4x800 meter relay team, the University of Pittsburgh track and field team kicked off the new year in solid fashion at the PSU Relays.
Wells won the men's Weight Throw with a distance of 19.20M, while Slay took the top spot the 500 meter dash with a time of 1:04.07.
Sebring-Pastore won the 3,000 meter run and set a personal best by 23 seconds with a time of 10:19.69. The women's 4x8 relay team of Cayla Del Piano, Melanie Vlasic, Morgan Perry and Dana DelleFemine blew away the competition and won the event by19 seconds in a time of 9:13.80.
"It was a typical opening meet of the indoor season," head coach Alonzo Webb said. "There were some ups and downs -- some good things and some bad things, but we expected that. The effort was good across the board, especially our freshman class. They all did a great job. "
SPRINTS:
MEN:
In the 200 meter dash, Brylan Slay (22.10) and Chris Tate (22.21) finished in places 7-8, but had the fourth and fifth fastest collegiate times as three unattached runners finished ahead of them, including former Pitt Panther Brycen Spratling who won the race in 21.40.
Slay won the 500 meter dash in a time of 1:04.07, while Tate took fourth overall by crossing the line in 1:05.18.
The 4x400 meter relay team came up five tenths of a second short of first place as LIU narrowly edged the Pitt quartet of Slay, Tate, Donnell Taylor and Desmond Palmer. Pitt ran a time of 3:14.98.
WOMEN:
The Panthers had a pair of runners make the 60 meter dash finals as Alyssa Wise took second place overall (7.63), while freshman Khyla Freeman finished 6th in a time of 7.84 in her first-ever indoor track meet.
Khadeja Kearney had a strong showing in the 60 meter hurdles as she took second place overall with a personal best time of 8.69.
In the 500 meter dash, Pitt recorded a pair of top-5 finishes with freshman Laila Ismail taking third (1:17.05) and Zoey Whittington placing fifth (1:17.19).
LONG DISTANCE:
The women's 4x800 meter relay team blew away the field to take first overall. The quartet of Del Piano, Vlasic, Perry and Dellefemine topped last years' time at the same meet by 13 seconds.
The Panthers also took second place in today's 4x8 as Ellen Crook, Audrey Burger, Deanna Felicissimo and Kristyna Finikiotis crossed the line in a time of 9:32.70.
In the women's 3,000 meter run, the Panthers competed well with a slew of PRs, including Pastore-Sebring (10:19.69), Caroline DeFrank (10:35.61) and Courtney Group (10:47.73).
Freshman Aaron Lauer highlighted the long distance for the men with a third place finish in the 3,000M in a career-best time of 8:47.14, topping his previous time of 8:51.92 which he ran at the Golden Flash Gala last month. In the first race of the day, freshman Eric Stratman ran a 4:24.87 in the mile and finished eighth overall.
FIELD:
Andrew Wells took the men's Weight Throw title with a distance of 19.20M, while freshman Chris Celona made the finals and finished sixth overall with a distance of 16.80M.
In the women's Weight Throw, Haley Springman's throw of 17.38 placed second overall, while Kalene Anderson (5th - 16.65M), Andin Fosom (9th - 15.61M) and Carlin Chruscicki (11th - 15.07M), all set personal-bests in the event.
Notable jumping performances included Lydia Dennis in the long jump with a fourth place finish (5.46M) and Jenna Gabreski setting a new personal record in the triple jump by a foot and half (11.69M) and finished second overall.
The Panthers will return to Penn State next Saturday for the Nittany Lion Challenge. Be sure to follow @PittTFandXC for updates.
