University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
ACC Championships
Je'Nyia Burton Wins Gold in the 400-Meter Race
3/3/2025 9:31:00 PM | Track & Field
Women's Team Earns Highest Finish and Point Total in Program History at ACC Championships
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senior standout Je'Nyia Burton set a school record, and a facility record en route to an ACC Championship in the women's 400-meter race. The only athlete in the field to run under 52 seconds, Burton clocked in at 51.82 and advances to the NCAA Indoor Championships March 14-15 in Virginia Beach.
Burton became the second member of the women's team to win gold and the second 400-meter champion since Pitt joined the conference in 2013. Desiree Garland was the first Panther on the women's side to win and did so at the 2018 ACC Championships with a time of 53.16.
In total, Pitt medaled in eight events at the 2025 ACC Indoor Championships. The women's team set new program bests by finishing in eighth place with 46 points, surpassing the previous bests of 10th place and 31 points set at last year's ACC Championships. The men's team finished 13th with 21 points.
SATURDAY RECAP
Ilse Steigenga started the meet off with the pentathlon, a five-event competition that features the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800-meter race. Steigenga completed the 60-meter hurdles in 8.90 seconds and set a new personal best, 1.67-meters, in the high jump. After the first two events, the Exmorra, Netherlands, native sat in 3rd place overall. Steigenga continued to improve, setting a personal best in the shot put with a 11.31-meter throw. The long jump produced a 6.15-meter jump, which was 2nd in the long jump event and moved Steigenga into third in the pentathlon entering the fifth and final event of the day. The 800-meter produced a time of 2:20.03 as Steigenga concluded the competition with a total of 4,084 points in the pentathlon, a new personal best result. Steigenga earned fourth place and Second Team-All ACC accolades.
Sophomore Norrah Lemongo became the first Panther to place on the podium with a third-place finish in the women's weight throw. Lemongo threw for 21.53-meters, a new personal best by more than a meter. She moved from fourth to second in program history and collected First Team All-ACC honors along the way.
In the first preliminary heats of the weekend, Je'Nyia Burton qualified with a time of 23.50 a new personal best. Likewise, Nigel Hussey qualified in the same event for the men with a pace of 21.05. Burton and Hussey will compete on Championship Monday.
SUNDAY RECAP
Junior high jumpers Eva Baldursdottir and Alesia Rengle started the second day of competition in the women's high jump, with both earning points for the women's team. Baldursdottir tied her personal best of 1.80-meters to finish fourth and receive Second Team All-ACC honors. Rengle jumped to 1.74-meters, finishing eighth. Collectively, the duo earned six points towards the women's team score.
Ilse Steigenga returned to competition in what was the final event of her collegiate career, the long jump. Steigenga earned her second medal and second fourth place finish on the weekend with a 6.08-meter performance.
The remainder of the afternoon featured the preliminary rounds of various track events. In the men's mile, Luke Simpson finished in 4:09.81. Finn Walsh followed in 4:13.19. The distance duo finished in 31st and 41st places, respectively. Jana Bruses competed in the women's 60-meter hurdles, where she finished in 8.50 for 14th place.
Three Panthers raced in the men's 60-meter hurdles prelims in their first ACC Championship meet. Jaden Shelton finished eighth in the prelims in 7.94 (7.936) but was fourth in his heat. Mikhi Anderson finished behind Shelton in ninth with the same time, 7.94 (7.937) and was second in his heat to advance to the final. Anderson's time was a personal best and the tenth best time in Pitt program history. Sophomore Antwan James finished 18th overall with a personal best 8.15.
Je'Nyia Burton stole the show in the women's 400-meter race. She recorded the fastest time of the preliminary round, 51.87. Burton was the only athlete to run under 52 seconds as broke her own school record and previous best time of 52.60 in the process. Senior Caleia Johnson finished in 16th with a time of 54.43. Classmate Logan Neely finished in 18th with her personal best 54.73.
On the men's side, Malik Ricketts also advanced to the 400-meter final. Ricketts, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, tied his personal best of 46.55 and was sixth in the prelims.
Junior long jumper Sacha Quequin finished in tenth place with a mark of 7.14-meters. Quequin made a huge jump after placing 17th at last year's ACC Championships.
To end the second day of action, Darren McQueen Jr. and Nigel Hussey recorded the exact same time in the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash. Both crossed the finish line in 6.70 (6.691), which was tied for fourth place in the prelims. They were rewarded with spots in the final.
MONDAY RECAP
Championship Monday began on a high note with Norrah Lemongo and Niya Crawford earning points for the women's team in the shot put. Lemongo placed fourth with a 16.48-meter toss. Crawford recorded a new personal best, 16.01-meters for seventh place. Pitt earned a combined seven points towards the team total from their efforts.
Mikhi Anderson, in his first ACC Championship meet since joining the program as a transfer student, finished in seventh place in the men's 60-meter hurdles. Anderson recorded a 7.96 time to earn the men's team their first two points of the meet.
Senior Je'Nyia Burton became the second Panther to become an individual ACC Champion in the women's 400-meter race, as she took gold in the event with a time of 51.82. The standout from Orlando, Florida set a personal best, a new school record and a facility record. In 2018, Desiree Garland won the gold in the same event with a time of 53.16.
In the men's 400-meter final, Malik Ricketts recorded a speed of 46.95 for eighth place, earning another point for the men's team.
Rookie Emeka Ugwu recorded a personal best mark of 16.67-meters in the men's shot put to finish tenth overall. With that, Ugwu enters the all-time top-ten records in the eight spot.
Out of the eight competitors in the men's 60-meter final, two of them were Panthers. Nigel Hussey and Darren McQueen Jr. took their marks and finished in third and seventh places, respectively. Hussey set a new personal best time of 6.66 en route to First Team All-ACC accolades. He is now the third fastest Panther to ever run the 60-meter dash in the blue and gold. McQueen crossed the finish line in 6.78 seconds. The short sprinters earned eight points collectively in this event.
Je'Nyia Burton returned to the oval for the 200-meter run. This time out she finished fifth with a time of 23.39, a new school record. Burton bested Cambrya Jones' 23.47 set in 2012.
Nigel Hussey also returned to the track, this time to compete in the men's 200-meter race. Hussey took fourth in the event with a 20.86 personal best time. It was the first time Hussey ran under 21 seconds as he skyrocketed from seventh to second on the Pitt top-ten times list.
The men's and women's 4x400 relay races concluded the three day conference championship meet. The quartet of Je'Nyia Burton, Caleia Johnson, Logan Neely and Faith Dennis secured sixth place with a season best 3:36.48, the third fastest ever by a group to wear the Pitt uniform. The men's foursome of Malik Ricketts, Nigel Hussey, Darren McQueen Jr. and Devin Nugent ended on a fourth place finish with a time of 3:08.91.
Players Mentioned
