Four Panthers Qualify for Final Events

Friday, February 24

Notre Dame, Ind.

All Day

Pitt

ACC Indoor Championships

Four Panthers Qualify for Final Events

2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field

Feb. 24, 2017

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Day 2 Results

NOTRE DAME, IND. - The Pitt track and field team finished day two of the ACC Indoor Championships on Friday. In a day filled with mainly preliminary events, the Panthers had four athletes qualify for the championship events on Saturday. Desmond Palmer led the way, qualifying in two events - the 60m hurdles and 400m. Those joining Palmer include Ashad Johnson-Conley (60m hurdles), Matt McGoey (Men's 1 Mile) and Joslin Sellers (Women's 1 Mile). In the women's 5000m final, Gillian Schriever finished sixth, running a personal best time of 16:10.06.

The men's 60m hurdles proved to be the best event for the Panthers, having both Palmer and Johnson-Conley qualify for tomorrow's final event. Palmer clocked in a time of 7.90, good for third overall, while Johnson-Conley ran a season-best 8.06, finishing fourth overall. The tandem made it to the 60m hurdle final in the 2016 ACC Indoor Championships but neither was able to medal. Shyheim Wright ran 8.16 and missed qualifying by less than a tenth of a second.

"This is what our expectation was. We were trying to get our third person in there, Shyheim Wright, who barely missed the final," stated head coach Alonzo Webb. "We are looking forward to them scoring high in the event tomorrow."

Palmer also qualified for the men's 400m. He posted a personal best mark of 46.56, finishing second overall in the preliminary heats. Palmer finished seventh in the 400m final during last year's ACC Indoor Championships.

Pitt will be well represented in the mile events, with McGoey and Sellers qualifying for the men and women's mile respectively. On the men's side, McGoey ran 4:06.22 and placed sixth. His time was less than two seconds off the leader. The sophomore from Wexford, Pa. set a personal record in the event, besting his old mark by nearly 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Sellers was one of the premier runners in the women's mile, finishing with the second-best time in the event at 4:45.41. She was less than a second behind the top time in the event.

"I don't know how expected this was, especially with Matt McGoey," admitted Coach Webb. "That was a huge PR, a 10 second PR, which is almost unheard of to jump down that much in one meet. We are really happy he has a chance to score points for the team tomorrow."

"For Joslin we expected her to do that. She has one of the top times coming back tomorrow, so we are looking for big points out of her as well."

During one of Friday's final events, sophomore Gillian Schriever was able to place sixth in the women's 5000m with a time of 16:10.06. The performance was a new personal record, passing her previous PR by over 16 seconds. The sixth place finished earned the women's team three points, bringing their total to 12, good for ninth overall. The 12 points already surpass the team total of nine from last season's ACC Indoor Championships.

"Gillian set another personal best and she keeps getting better for us every time she runs," said Coach Webb. "She is a person we expected to do some things for us this week. It's been awhile since we had distance runners scoring like this for us and it's really exciting for us as a program."

Despite not qualifying for final events, other members of the team had successful days. On the women's side, Miranda Salvo (4:49.66) and Amy Kelly (4:52.50) both ran to personal records during the women's mile event. Genaya Johnson set a personal record in the 60m with a time of 7.65. Both Beth Shenck (2:09.18) and Anja Weiler (2:11.47) established new personal records in the 800m. Lysaih Rice ran the 200m in 24.84, a personal best.

On the men's side, Chris Spadaro finished 10^th in the long jump with a mark of 7.11m. He held the final spot in the qualifiers until the second-to-last competitor passed him. On the track, Billy Caldwell finished the mile with a time of 4:11.03, a personal record. Sophomore Ken Brosier set a personal record in the 400m with a time of 48.43.

UP NEXT

The ACC Indoor Championships will conclude tomorrow with the final 21 events. The championship events that will feature Pitt athletes are scheduled as follows: Men's 60m hurdles to begin at 12:10 p.m. The women and men's mile finals are scheduled for 12:35 p.m. and 12:45 p.m., respectively. The men's 400m final is set for 1:10 p.m. In addition, Pitt will run in both the men and women's 4x400m relays and 3000m races. Paige Lumley and Taylor Middleton will compete in the women's triple jump, while Spadaro will compete in the men's triple jump, all of which are medal events.