Lauray Claims Gold And Two School Records Fall At 125th Penn Relays

Thursday, April 25

Philadelphia, Pa.

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Penn Relays

Lauray Claims Gold And Two School Records Fall At 125th Penn Relays

4/29/2019 1:49:00 PM | Track & Field, Panther Club

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Pitt track and field teams had a strong showing this weekend at the 125^th running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, PA. The Panthers produced a victory, two school records and multiple top-10 times during the historic three-day meet.

"The Penn Relays Carnival is one of the most important meets of the year for us," stated head coach Alonzo Webb. "We always have a lot of in state young men and women on our roster that are familiar with this meet from competing in it as high school athletes or wanted to. It is also a great recruiting opportunity for us to see talent from all over and also to be seen by tens of thousands of knowledgeable people in the stadium and millions on television. The crown jewel for us during the weekend was sophomore high jumper Greg Lauray winning the championship section after being unable to clear a height as a freshman at the meet last year."

Sophomore Greg Lauray had an impressive weekend for the Panthers at his second Penn Relays as he was able to claim the victory in the high jump on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd at Franklin Field. Lauray edged out his opponent from Penn State with a new school record and personal best leap of 2.18m (7'1.75"). His winning leap is the second best in the ACC this season and the sophomore now holds the school record in the indoor high jump and the outdoor high jump.

Lauray wasn't the only Panther to break a school record at the Penn Relays as the women's distance medley relay team also posted the fastest time in school history on Thursday night. The quartet of Makenzie Zeh, Breanna Phillips, Miranda Salvo and Ally Brunton crossed the finish line in 11:33.89, breaking the old school record that was set in 2017. The time was seven seconds faster than the previous school record from two seasons ago.

The Panthers also saw six top-10 times produced throughout the weekend in Philadelphia led by three steeplechasers who were able to set personal best times on Thursday night. On the men's side, Josh Higgins had a great run in the 3000m steeplechase as he notched a sixth place finish in 8:54.84, the second fastest time in the event in program history. Fellow Panther Evan Addison wasn't far behind as he took home ninth place in 8:59.71, the fifth fastest in program history. On the women's side, Natalie Hilton finished the 3000m steeplechase in 10:30.45, the second fastest time in program history.

Pitt was the lone team to see two athletes qualify for the women's 100m hurdles final on Saturday afternoon after both Eddita Pessima ran a personal best time in the prelims and Aysha Muhammad had a strong run of her own. In the finals on Saturday, Pessima put together the best run of her career as she took home third place in a personal best time of 13.49 seconds, the second fastest in program history. Muhammad wasn't far behind in the final as she also posted a personal best time of 13.64 seconds, the third fastest in Pitt history.

Noah Walker had a big throw in the hammer throw finals on Saturday afternoon as he took home 10^th place in the field of 25 athletes. The sophomore notched a personal best throw of 54.40m (178'), the second best throw in outdoor program history. Walker also claimed second place in the javelin throw with a distance of 64.15m (210'5").

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

The men's distance medley relay team of Drew Glick, Dante' Watson, Nate Sloan and Nick Wolk had a strong showing for the Panthers as they notched second place after holding the lead for most of the race. The quartet finished just behind Tennessee in 9:48.05.
In the women's long jump invitational, junior Taylor Middleton had a strong showing for the Panthers as she took home fourth place in the strong field of competitors. Middleton notched a distance of 5.92m (19'5.25") on her third attempt to secure fourth place out of the 12 participants.
The women's 4x100m relay team of Genaya Johnson, Nikki Scherer, Taylor Middleton and Jaylyn Aminu took the track for their second time in the weekend and improved on their time from Thursday as they took third in the heat in 46.31 seconds.
After qualifying for the college women's final in the 4x400m relay, the quartet of Flora Ahiarakwe, Nina Crawford, Aysha Muhammad and Nikki Scherer took home fourth place in 3:38.62.
In the long jump, Kollin Smith was able to take home a fifth place finish with a season-best leap of 7.23m (23'8.75") despite the wet conditions.
Freshman Alex Scheivert collected a fifth place finish in the javelin with a throw of 60.17m (197'4") in the extremely windy conditions.

UP NEXT
The Panthers will now have a week off to train before heading to Charlottesville, VA for the 2019 ACC Outdoor Championships hosted by Virginia. The three-day conference meet will begin on Thursday, May 9 and run through Saturday, May 11 at Lannigan Field.

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