Pitt
ACC Indoor Championships
Panthers Secure Three Podium Placements, Best Women's Program Finish at ACC Championships
2/24/2024 6:24:00 PM | Track & Field
BOSTON, MA – The Panthers medaled in nine events at the 2024 ACC Indoor Championships, with two individuals and one relay team placing on the podium. The women's team finished in 10th place overall with 31 points, the highest team finish and highest point total in program history, while the men's team took twelfth with a score of 17 points.
DAY ONE RECAP
Graduate student Lydia Bottelier and senior Taylor Newton scored the first points of the weekend for the Panthers, placing in fourth and seventh respectively, in the pentathlon. Bottelier finished with 4093 points and received Second Team All-ACC honors. Bottelier's best finishes were the high jump and the 800m, placing second in both. Bottelier jumped 1.76m and recorded a time of 2:19.50 in the 800m. She also recorded two new personal bests in the 60m hurdles, crossing the line in 8.80 seconds, solidifying fifth place in the event and in the shot put, throwing for 11.75m, earning fifth place again.
Newton finished with a new personal best 3785 points. She placed fifth in the high jump, recording a new personal best mark of 1.70m. The St. Mary's, Pa. native placed sixth in the shot put with a mark of 11.71m. Newton went on to record another personal best, this time in the long jump, leaping into ninth place with a mark of 5.41m.
In the men's 200m prelims, junior Nigel Hussey tied his personal best time of 21.29 to advance to the final round on Saturday.
In the women's 200m race, Somiyah Braggs crossed the line in 23.88, a new personal record for the freshman from Miami.
Junior Luke Miller moved from fifth to now fourth all-time in program history as he ran for a new best time of 14:07.96, finishing 16th at the meet.
The track events concluded with the men's and the women's distance medley relay races, in which both teams from Pitt ran new top-10 program times. The men's squad of Jack Miller, Raymond Oriakhi, Luke Simpson, and Finn Walsh ran the eighth best time in program history, crossing the line in 9:51.59. The women's quartet of Sydney Nowicki, Mackenzie Sullivan, Claire Hoffman, Olivia Bufalini ran a season best and ninth best women's program time of 11:34.07.
The first day of the meet came to an end with the women's weight throw, where school record holder Foluke Olujide-Ajibade broke her previous record with a new best mark of 21.67m. The Dublin, Ohio native received First Team All-ACC accolades and was the first podium finisher of the weekend for the Panthers. Olujide-Ajibade has shown tremendous improvement since her fifth place, 20.13m score at this meet a year prior.
DAY TWO RECAP
Clement Campbell claimed sixth place in the men's long jump with his personal record leap of 7.59m. The graduate student from Trinidad and Tobago jumped up two spots in the Pitt record books, from fifth to third with his new mark. Campbell received Second Team All-ACC honors for his efforts. This is Campbell's second consecutive Second Team All-ACC nod in the long jump. At the 2023 ACC Championship meet, he hopped 7.27m for sixth place.
In a day full of preliminary heats, there were five new personal records and two athletes who qualified for the final round in their respective events. Raymond Oriakhi got the momentum going with a personal record of 8.05 in the 60m hurdles. Jazmyn Potts followed on the women's side, tying her personal best in the same event with a time of 8.57. The 400m prelims saw two Panthers break their previous personal records; Devin Nugent crossed the finish line in 47.22 to advance to the finals. Nugent's personal record lifted him from 10th to seventh in indoor program history. Freshman Thomas McDonough ran a 47.60 speed in his first ACC Championship meet. In the women's 400m prelims, Caleia Johnson notched a new best of 55.21. Lastly, Somiyah Braggs secured her spot in the 60m finals by improving her time to 7.36. Entering the race, Braggs' best time was 7.40, the second best in program history. She remains in second, behind Tasha Peart's time of 7.30.
Back on the field, Ilse Steigenga secured Pitt's second podium finish of the meet, placing third in the long jump with a season's best leap of 6.34m. Steigenga received the bronze medal and First Team All-ACC honors. The Netherlands native improved one spot from her fourth place finish a year ago.
DAY THREE RECAP
The Panthers saved their best for last, medaling in five events on the day. Devin Nugent began the day taking fifth place in the men's 400m finals. The sophomore from Abington, Pa. ran a clip of 47.25 to snatch Second Team All-ACC honors. Somiyah Braggs was next on the championship schedule. The freshman crossed the line in 7.37, securing fourth and edging out the fifth-place runner from Florida State by five hundredths of a second. Nigel Hussey kept the medals moving as he placed fifth in the men's 200m with a pace of 21.39.
The distance group took to the track for the 3000m race. Jack Miller gathered 16th place in 8:00.92 and Quintin Gatons followed in 24th place with the third fastest time in program history, 8:05.81. Gatons trails only Miller and Jerry Richey. On the women's side, Sydney Nowicki captured 10th in 9:35.13.
Sophomore Niya Crawford showcased her talents in the shot put. Crawford's mark of 15.72m secured her fifth place at the meet, Second Team All-ACC honors, and the third best mark in school history. The Upper Marlboro, Md. native stepped up when it mattered the most, as she had previously not broken the 15m mark during her young collegiate career.
The 2024 ACC Championship meet came to an exciting end with the men's 4x400m relay. Pitt's team of Malik Ricketts, Stephon Brown, Thomas McDonough and Devin Nugent left it all on the track, collectively running a time of 3:09.44. This time put the quartet on the podium and wrote their names in the record books as the fourth fastest relay squad in Pitt's history.
Players Mentioned
