Pitt
USF Alumni Invitational
Devin Nugent Claims First Outdoor Victory for Panthers
3/22/2025 8:53:00 PM | Track & Field
TAMPA, Fla. – The Panthers opened the 2025 outdoor season, highlighted by Devin Nugent's second consecutive victory in the 400-meter hurdles at the USF Alumni Invitational. Nugent earned the first victory of the outdoor season with a time of 50.54. Nugent also won the 400-meter hurdles last year at the 2024 USF Alumni Invitational, held at USF Track & Field Stadium, with a time of 51.09.
FRIDAY RECAP
Samuell Guzman was the first Panther in action on Friday to kick off the outdoor campaign. Guzman finished fifth in the men's javelin with a mark of 60.74-meters. The freshman from Hazleton, Pa. cracked the top ten in the program record book, earning the tenth spot on the list in his outdoor debut.
Daniel Amaya followed up with another fifth-place finish for Pitt, in the men's hammer throw. Amaya, a senior from Colombia, threw 62.16-meters, just shy of his 62.24-meter personal best.
Making his outdoor debut, Emeka Ugwu got in on the action, with a fifth-place finish yet again, in the men's shot put. He threw a personal best 17.50-meters on his second attempt. The Nigeria native inserted himself into third in the event in program history in his first outdoor competition as a Panther.
The first event on the track was the women's 400-meter hurdles. Logan Neely raced to fourth place with a personal best time of 58.83, which places her in seventh in the program record books. Jana Bruses followed in 13th place, crossing the line in 1:00.48, a personal best. Mackenzie Sullivan finished in 21st with a 1:02.31 time and Hailey Kravetz finished in 31st in her outdoor collegiate debut with her pace of 1:03.99.
Norrah Lemongo, Niya Crawford and Alexa Brown represented well in the women's shot put. Lemongo took third with a throw of 15.78-meters, Crawford finished in 7th with a 14.71-meter mark, and Brown claimed 15th with a personal best 13.78-meters.
To close out the first day of action, many Pitt men and women competed in the 200-meter dash. On the women's side, Je'Nyia Burton was the first to cross the finish line for the Panthers, taking seventh in 23.45. Caleia Johnson was the next finisher, stopping the clock in 24.16 for 23rd place. Thomas McDonough was the top finisher was the Pitt men, as he was 14th with a 21.12 time. Malik Ricketts was 22nd in 21.36.
SATURDAY RECAP
Junior Ryan Cook started the second day of competition by setting the ninth-best men's discus program mark with a toss of 43.98-meters. He finished 24th at the meet.
The 4x100 relays connected for successful outings in the first relay events of the season. The women's quartet of Je'Nyia Burton, Caleia Johnson, Faith Dennis and Somiyah Braggs pieced together a 45.26 effort to take seventh place at the meet and earn the eighth fastest time in women's program history. The men's squad of Darren McQueen Jr., Nigel Hussey, Malik Ricketts and Stephon Brown run 39.74 for fourth place at the meet and the third best time in program history.
In the women's high jump, both Eva Baldursdottir and Alesia Rengle were able to clear the 1.70-meter mark. Baldursdottir did so on her first try and Rengle on her second. Both bowed out of the competition at the 1.75-meter mark. Baldursdottir settled in fifth and Rengle was tied for sixth.
For the hurdlers, Jana Bruses was 20th in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.24. Jaden Shelton collected 14th in the men's 110-meter hurdles with his time of 14.35.
Je'Nyia Burton once again impressed, finishing first in her heat and sixth overall in the women's 100-meter dash. Burton recorded a personal best 11.62, which is the eighth fastest time in the race in program history.
Nigel Hussey, coming off a successful outing at the ACC Indoor Championships, finished fourth in the 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 10.26.
To conclude the meet, both men's and women's 4x400 relay teams finished fourth. The men's foursome of Malik Ricketts, Nigel Hussey, Stephon Brown and Devin Nugent produced a 3:07.79 effort while the women's squad of Logan Neely, Caleia Johnson, Somiyah Braggs and Faith Dennis strung together a 3:40.43 time.
Players Mentioned
