Pitt Opens Indoor Campaign With Strong Showing At Notre Dame

Wednesday, January 27

South Bend, Ind.

Pitt

Notre Dame Invitational

Pitt Opens Indoor Campaign With Strong Showing At Notre Dame

1/28/2021 8:20:00 AM | Track & Field

Results

NOTRE DAME, IN – The University of Pittsburgh track and field team opened their indoor campaign on Wednesday at the Notre Dame Invitational and posted a total of eight winners, four individual and four relays. Wednesday's meet at the Loftus Sports Center also featured a pair of top-10 all-time performances.

Both the women (74 points) and the men (51 points) finished in third place in the meet behind Louisville and Notre Dame.

The most impressive performance of the afternoon came from senior Kollin Smith who was appearing in his first indoor meet in two years and was able to secure the victory in his return to the track in the 60m hurdles. Smith crossed the finish line in 8.27 seconds to score seven points for the Panthers. Fellow Panther Cobe Wiggins posted a third place finish in the same race, crossing the finish line with a personal record time of 8.34 seconds.

Junior Eddita Pessima picked up right where she left off last indoor campaign in the 60m hurdles as she collected the victory on Wednesday, crossing the finish line in 8.47 seconds. Lydia Bottelier posted a personal record time of 9.26 seconds in the prelims and took third place in the finals while freshman Kaneisha Raymond took fourth place in 9.48 seconds.

Senior Nikki Scherer had a strong showing in the 400m as she claimed victory in 55.60 seconds while Flora Ahiarakwe took home fourth place in the same race in 58.53 seconds. Fellow senior Ade Jones-Roundtree opened his season with a win in the 400m with a time of 48.39 seconds and Raymond Oriakhi took fourth place in 50.02 seconds.

Sophomore Jack Miller turned in a great performance in the 3000m run as he posted a second place finish with a personal record time of 8:11.95. His time is the fourth fastest time in program history and currently sits as the 25^th fastest time in the country. In the women's mile, Emily Brown opened her career with a fourth place finish in 5:10.48.

In the 200m dash, Lonzell Feagin posted a third place finish in 22.03 seconds while freshman Jazmyn Potts notched a fourth place finish in 26.73 seconds in her first career meet.

In field events, senior Breanna Phillips opened up her season with a second place showing in the high jump as she cleared a height of 5'3.25" (1.61m) while Bottelier cleared the same height in the season opening meet. Senior Abena Atuobi posted a fourth place finish in the shot put with a toss of 45'3.50" (13.80m).

The Panthers relay squads dominated on Wednesday as they won all four of the relay races in the season opening meet. The men's 4000m DMR team had the most impressive performance of the afternoon as the quartet of Josh Higgins, Kendall Branan, Jack Balick and Evan Addison claimed the win in 9:54.72, the 10^th fastest indoor time in program history. The women's 4000m DMR team also earned the win as the team of Emily Brown, Breanna Phillips, Brenda Ayuk and Ally Brunton posted a time of 12:03.70.

The men's 4x400m relay team of Jones-Roundtree, Matt Thompson, Oriahki and Feagin collected the win with a strong time of 3:18.69. The women's 4x400m relay quartet of Ahairakwe, Scherer, Pessima and Bottelier crossed the finish line in 3:47.66 to claim the season opening win.

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