Ugwu Earns Silver, Pitt Stacks Up Finals Qualifiers on Day 2 in Louisville

Ugwu Earns Silver, Pitt Stacks Up Finals Qualifiers on Day 2 in Louisville

5/15/2026 8:11:00 PM | Track & Field

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pittsburgh men's and women's track & field programs put points on the board and added another wave of finals qualifiers Friday on Day 2 of the 2026 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Owsley B. Frazier Cardinal Park.

Day One (Thursday) Recap

Thursday Photo Gallery
Friday Photo Gallery

Sophomore Emeka Ugwu authored the day's best moment in the men's shot put. Sitting outside the top spot heading into his final attempt, Ugwu uncorked a throw of 61-0.25 (18.60m) on his sixth and last effort, earning a second place finish. He was joined in the scoring column by freshman Josiah Montgomery, whose personal-best 58-9.25 (17.91m) earned a sixth-place finish and bumped him up to No. 3 on Pitt's all-time outdoor list. Ryan Cook rounded out the trio at 15th with a mark of 52-7.25 (16.03m).

The Panthers also scored on the women's side of the throwing circle, where Niya Crawford placed fifth in the shot put at 52-4.75 (15.97m) to bank four points for the Pitt women.

On the track, Darren McQueen Jr. powered his way into Saturday's men's 100 final, clocking a wind-aided 10.16 (+2.6) to take fifth in the prelims — a mark that, under legal conditions, would have eclipsed the 10.23 PR he set at last year's ACC Championships. Teammate Che Nwabuko placed 11th in 10.49.

Somiyah Braggs followed suit in the women's 100, advancing to Saturday's final with a wind-aided 11.27 (+4.1), a time that would also have surpassed her lifetime best of 11.38.

The Pitt hurdlers continued to make noise as well. Jaden Shelton ran a season-best 13.83 in the men's 110 hurdle prelims to claim a spot in Saturday's final, while Antwan James turned in a personal-best 14.05 in 12th. Maliah Edwards ran a wind-aided PR of 13.52 in the women's 100 hurdles, though the mark was not enough to advance.

Elsewhere on the track, Colin Kravitz (47.67) and Malachi Williams (48.44) competed in the men's 400 prelims, Gabrielle Layne ran 61.35 in the women's 400, and Graham Heinrich placed 16th in the men's 3000 steeplechase at 9:19.34. In the women's long jump, Maddie Lewis recorded a personal-best leap of 19-6.25 (5.95m) and finished 16th.

UP NEXT

The Panthers return to Owsley B. Frazier Cardinal Park for the final day of the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday, with a full slate of finals on tap across the track, the throwing circles and the jumping pits. Pitt's day opens at 2 p.m. ET with Emeka Ugwu in the men's discus and Uri Arnon in the men's triple jump, followed by the women's high jump at 4 p.m., featuring Alesia Rengle and Eva Baldursdottir.

The Panthers will run both 400 relays before a loaded block of finals: Luke Simpson in the men's 1500 (4:20 p.m.), Jaden Shelton in the men's 110 hurdles (4:40 p.m.), Jaydon Isham and Niya Crawford in the women's discus (4:45 p.m.), Darren McQueen Jr. in the men's 100 (5:20 p.m.), Somiyah Braggs in the women's 100 (5:30 p.m.), and Josue Richardson Salazar, Alexandria Scott and Jana Bruses across the men's and women's 400-hurdle finals (6:00 and 6:10 p.m.). Pitt's 1600 relays close out the meet at 7:30 and 7:40 p.m. All action streams on ACC Network Extra, with live results available at FlashResults.com.