Women's Track: WVU Places 6th at BIG EAST Indoors
February 22, 2004 05:32 PM | General
February 22, 2004
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The West Virginia University women’s track team closed out competition with a sixth place finish on Sunday, Feb. 22, in the BIG EAST indoor championships at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
The Mountaineers achieved a total of 51 points on the weekend. West Virginia’s highlights included a total of three second place and two third place finishes.
On Saturday, junior Tara Struyk placed second in the 5,000 meters with an NCAA provisional time of 16:29.83.
In Sunday’s action, junior Jennifer Kemp placed second in the 800 meter finals with an ECAC qualifying time of 2:11.73. Kemp’s effort was a four place improvement from a year ago when the Edmonton, Alberta, native finished sixth.
All-American Megan Metcalfe achieved an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 9:07.73 en route to a second place finish in the 3,000 meters. Despite finishing second, Metcalfe, ranked second nationally in the event, beat the meet record time of 9:13.11 previously held by Vicki Huber of Villanova.
Junior Pam Richardson avenged her performance from last year’s BIG EAST championships by placing third in the 500 meters with an ECAC qualifying time of 1:13.78. Richardson, who failed to qualify for last years 500 meter finals, improved her time from a year ago by almost two seconds.
West Virginia’s final third place finish came from the Mountaineer’s 4x400 meter relay squad consisting of freshmen Halimah Bashir and Rhea Mann, sophomore Kenyetta Conway and junior Pam Richardson. The quartet combined forces to achieve an ECAC qualifying time of 3:48.52.
In the rest of Sunday’s action, freshman Jessica Czaikowski took full advantage of her first appearance in the BIG EAST championships by placing sixth in the final round of the 60 meter hurdles with an ECAC qualifying time of 8.67.
West Virginia’s 4x800 meter relay team consisting of sophomore Susan Davis, juniors Jennifer Davis and Jennifer Kemp and senior Megan Metcalfe crossed the line in fifth with a time of 8:59.82.
In the day’s field events, sophomore Nancy Regalbuto placed 10th in the high jump with a mark of 1.59 meters. Fellow sophomore Michelle McGinnis finished 17th in the shot put with a toss of 12.49 meters.
West Virginia has officially completed the BIG EAST indoor season and will return to the track next weekend when the Mountaineers are scheduled to compete in the Last Chance Qualifier in Blacksburg, Va.
