Men's 4x400m Relay Qualifies For Nationals As NCAA East Prelims Conclude Saturday Night

Wednesday, May 26

Jacksonville, FL

Pitt

2021 NCAA East Preliminary Round

Men's 4x400m Relay Qualifies For Nationals As NCAA East Prelims Conclude Saturday Night

5/30/2021 2:31:00 PM | Track & Field

Compiled Results

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The University of Pittsburgh track and field teams wrapped up the NCAA East Preliminary Round with some strong performances while the men's 4x400m relay squad earned a trip to Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a seventh place finish.

The quartet of Cobe Wiggins, Lonzell Feagin, Matt Wilson and Ade Jones-Roundtree ran a season-best time of 3:06.92 to take third place in their heat and an automatic qualifying bid to Eugene for the national meet in two weeks. The Panthers relay squad finished with the seventh fastest time while also posting the fifth fastest in program history.

Wiggins, Feagin, Wilson and Jones-Roundtree are all making their first trip to the National meet as they became the first Pitt relay squad since 2014 (Micah Murray, Carvin Nkanata, Desmond Palmer, Brycen Spratling) to earn a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The 2014 squad earned Second Team All-America honors after finishing in 11^th place overall.

WEDNESDAY
Senior Noah Walker had some double duty on Wednesday to open things up for the Panthers as he competed in both the javelin and hammer throw. Walker was the only competitor in the field to participate in both events. He started with the javelin and posted a long throw of 212-10 (64.89m) to earn the 22^nd place finish in the field of 48. Walker then headed over to the hammer throw where he broke the school record on his third and final throw. He posted a toss that traveled 209-6 (63.86m) to break the six year old school record in the event but just missed out on qualifying for Nationals as he took home the 18^th place finish overall.

In the long jump, senior Kollin Smith saw him impressive senior season come to a close as he posted a leap of 23-8.75 (7.24m) on his second attempt to take home 27^th place overall in the talented field. Smith's other two attempts resulted in fouls. The senior wrapped up his campaign posting a personal record leap of 25-4 (7.72m), the second best in program history in the event.

Jones-Roundtree kicked off his second appearance at the NCAA East Preliminary Round with a 29^th place finish in the 400m dash. The senior finished in fifth place in his heat with a time of 47.09 seconds. Wilson also opened up his weekend with a 33^rd place finish in the 400m hurdles as he crossed the finish line in 52.36 seconds, taking sixth place in his heat.

THURSDAY
It was the ladies turn to begin competition on Thursday and the Panthers were able to secure three trips to the quarterfinals.

Junior Eddita Pessima was able to qualify for two quarterfinal races in the same day as she notched a pair of 23^rd place finishes to move onto action on Saturday. Pessima opened her day with a fifth place finish in her heat in the 100m hurdles as she posted a new personal record time of 13.19 seconds, the second fastest in program history in the event. She then backed up her performance in the 100m hurdles with a qualifying performance in the 400m hurdles as she secured the fourth place finish in her heat with a time of 59.02 seconds.

Senior Ally Brunton had another impressive showing in the 1500m run as she was able to earn a trip to the quarterfinals in the event with a 17^th place finish in the first round. Brunton crossed the finish line in 4:19.88 to take seventh place in her fast heat to advance for a chance at qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, OR.

Brianna Spirnak didn't have her best outing of the season on Thursday in the javelin as she posted a long throw of 140-8 (42.89m) to take home 38^th place overall in the strong field. She closes out her season with a personal best throw of 158-5 (48.28m), the fourth best in program history in the event. Senior Nikki Scherer also didn't post the time she was hoping in the 400m dash as she crossed the finish line in 55.21 seconds to take 43^rd place overall.

FRIDAY
The men were up once again on Friday and the Panthers had a total of 10 student-athletes in action on a packed day of competition.

The men's 4x400m relay was the final event of the night and it provided fans around the country with something to talk about for years. In the middle of the second of three heats, the power and lights in the stadium went out and the competitors finished off the race with cell phone lighting from fans in attendance. After a minor delay to restore the lights, the Panthers relay squad took the track and they put together their best performance of the season on the biggest stage. Wiggins, Feagin, Wilson and Jones-Roundtree posted a season-best time of 3:06.92 in the heat to secure third place and a trip to Eugene for Nationals. Overall, the quartet posted the seventh fastest time in the event and will look to earn All-America status in two weeks at Hayward Field.

Pitt had three competitors in the 3000m Steeplechase on Friday night and senior Josh Higgins was able to lead the way for the Panthers with a 22^nd place finish in 9:03.34 as he took 10^th place in his heat. Zach Lefever and Jack Miller ran in the same heat and finished in 33^rd and 35^th place, respectively. In the high jump, senior Greg Lauray cleared a season-best height of 6-11 (2.11m) but was not able to advance on to nationals as he finished in 31^st place overall. Fellow senior Nick Wolk saw his season come to a close in the 5000m run as he posted a 34^th place finish in 14:17.23.

SATURDAY
The final day of competition had four Panthers competing for a chance to advance to Eugene for the National meet.

Pessima had a pair of chances to punch her ticket but came away with a pair of 23^rd place finishes in the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. She crossed the finish line in 13.41 seconds in the 100m hurdles and in 1:01.23 in the 400m hurdles as her impressive junior campaign came to a close. She finished the season with a new PR of 13.29 seconds in the 100m hurdles, second in program history, and a new PR of 58.72 seconds in the 400m hurdles, fifth fastest in program history.
Brunton put up a strong effort in the quarterfinals of the 1500m run but her time of 4:22.79 wasn't good enough to move her on as she finished in 17^th place overall in the strong field. Brunton closed out the season with a new school record in the 1500m (4:16.29) while also posting the fourth fastest 800m time (2:08.17).

After earning First Team All-ACC honors and posting a third place finish in the high jump at the ACC Outdoor Championships, Lydia Bottelier collected a 30^th place finish at the East Regionals. The sophomore cleared her first two heights with ease before being unsuccessful on the third height. She cleared 5-7.75 (1.72m) but wasn't able to clear 5-9.7 (1.77m) as her season came to a close.

UP NEXT

The Panthers 4x400m relay squad will head to Eugene, OR for the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships at the historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
The national semifinal in the 4x400m relay will take place on Wednesday, June 9 at 11:18 pm ET
At the national meet, the top-8 finishers in each individual and relay event will be named First Team All-America while the 9-16th place finishers will be named Second Team All-America. The 17-24^th finishers will earn the Honorable Mention All-America nod.

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