University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Nittany Lion Challenge
Three Event Winners Highlight Nittany Lion Challenge
1/13/2024 8:56:00 PM | Track & Field
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Pitt men's and women's track and field teams excelled at the Nittany Lion Challenge, with Eva Baldursdottir, Winnie Incorvaia and Foluke Olujide-Ajibade each claiming an event title.
The meet began with the women's shot put, in which freshman Norrah Lemongo recorded a new personal best in 14.65m. Lemongo earned sixth place in the event. Track events started shortly thereafter, with the Panthers getting off to a hot start in the mile. Freshman Olivia Bufalini took fourth place in her indoor track debut, running a 4:55.13 mile. On the men's side, junior Finn Walsh secured silver with a personal record 4:07.16 time.
In the first round of the women's 60m hurdles, Folake Olujide-Ajibade ran a qualifying time of 8.58, good for second place in the round. In the finals, Olujide-Ajibade crossed the line in 8.62, solidifying third place overall in the event.
Two Panther men, Ardonntrell Williams and Raymond Oriakhi, also advanced out of the 60m hurdles first round. Williams completed the preliminary race in 7.93. Oriakhi did so in 8.23. In the all-ACC final, Oriakhi and Williams finished in seventh and eighth places, respectively. Each recorded a new personal best on the day. Williams' occurred in the preliminary round. Oriakhi's took place in the final heat at an 8.15 clip.
Success Duruzor showed her speed in the 60m race, flying to a new personal best of 6.55 in the final round where she earned bronze. Stephon Brown and Darren McQueen Jr. qualified for the final round of the men's 60m dash, where Brown brought home third place and McQueen Jr. earned seventh place.
Mackenzie Sullivan ran her fastest 600m to date. Her 1:32.69 pace brought in third place. Sophomore Uri Arnon took third place in the triple jump, leaping 14.09m.
Foluke Olujide-Ajibade was the first event winner of the day for the Panthers. Her mark of 21.07m in the weight throw earned gold and a new PR. Teammate Niya Crawford came in second in the event while recording a new personal record of her own. Crawford threw for 17.96m. On the men's side of the weight throw, Daniel Amaya took second for the Panthers and added an 18.25m personal best to his belt.
Eva Baldursdottir boosted the Panthers with a first-place finish in the high jump. Baldursdottir was able to clear the 1.74m height on her second attempt to capture first, whereas it took second place finisher Annishka McDonald of WVU three attempts to make the mark.
Freshman Thomas McDonough ran his first 200m race of his young career in 21.86, receiving fourth place for his efforts.
The meet moved from sprints to distance events, but the Panthers set the pace. Junior Winnie Incorvaia shattered her previous 3000m best by more than seven seconds. Incorvaia ran for 9:43.03 taking home the third event crown on the day. Newcomer Sydney Nowicki and freshman Camy Kiser came in fifth and sixth places, respectively. Nowicki ran nearly three seconds better than her previous pace and Kiser opened up her freshman track campaign as one of just seven at the meet to run sub ten minutes. The men's distance squad had five finish within the top ten of the 3000m race. Luke Miller, Damian Frausto, Quintin Gatons, Sam Otis, and Luke Simpson led the pack, which helped Frausto and Simpson run personal bests in the process.
Action concluded with the 4x400m relay, where the quartet of Mackenzie Sullivan, Somiyah Braggs, Caleia Johnson and Success Duruzor collected third place passing the baton in 3:46.94.
NEXT UP
The Panthers will return to competition next Friday, January 19 and Saturday, January 20 at the Hokie Invitational hosted by Virginia Tech.
