Women's Track: WVU 2nd at ECACs
March 07, 2004 08:58 PM | General
March 7, 2004
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| Metcalfe |
BOSTON – The West Virginia University women’s track team equaled their best finish in school history after placing second at the 2004 ECAC indoor championships in Boston.
West Virginia’s only other second place finish in the championships came in 2000. Overall, the Mountaineers came out of the weekend with nine personal best efforts, eight top-five finishes, a national qualifier, a school record holder and two event champions. West Virginia garnered a total of 51 points, just 11 points behind first place Pitt.
In Saturday’s action, junior Tara Struyk broke the school record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:22.44 en route to her first ECAC indoor championship. The time qualified the Edmonton, Alberta, native for next weekend’s NCAA championships in the event.
Freshman Abbie Stechschulte took full advantage of her first appearance in the ECAC indoor championships after finishing fifth in the pentathlon with a score of 3,464.
During Sunday’s competition, freshman Jessica Czaikowski placed second and fifth in the 60 meter hurdles and 60 meter dash respectively. The Tottenham, Ontario, native finished with a personal best time of 7.65 en route to a fifth place finish in the 60 meter dash finals. In the finals of the 60 meter hurdles, she crossed the line in 8.51 to take second place behind Connecticut’s April Garner (8.43).
“We were extremely pleased with how well Jessica ran this weekend,” coach Jeff Huntoon says. “Her strength is the hurdles so it was a pleasant surprise to see her finish so well in the 60 meter dash.”
Junior Jennifer Davis and senior Megan Metcalfe put forth outstanding performances in the 1,000 meters. Giving West Virginia its final event championship of the weekend was Metcalfe who captured the 1,000 meter title with a time of 2:47.11. Davis recorded a fifth place finish after crossing the line in 2:52.27.
“Today’s race was one of the few tough races Megan has had to run this season and she did a great job,” Huntoon says. “Jen Davis really stepped up as well and started doing what we knew she was capable of all along.”
Junior Pam Richardson finished third in the 500 meter finals with a time of 72.98. The Atco, N.J., native’s time was the second best mark in school history.
Fellow junior Jennifer Kemp placed fourth in the finals of the 800 meters after recording a time of 2:09.55.
“Jen’s time was better this year than last year when she placed second,” Huntoon says. “That just goes to show how competitive the 800 meter field was this weekend.”
West Virginia’s other competitors in the championships included sophomore Junique Morris who ran the 200 meters in 24.84, freshman Halimah Bashir who crossed the line in 56.47 in the 400 meters and the Mountaineer’s 4x400 meter squad who recorded a time of 3:50.34.
“I was really pleased with the results this weekend,” Huntoon says. “Everyone was hitting big time. It was a great way to end the indoor season and head into NCAA’s with some momentum.”
WVU’s Megan Metcalfe, Jennifer Kemp, Pam Richardson, Jennifer Davis and Tara Struyk have a week off before traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., on Mar. 12-13 to compete in the 2004 NCAA indoor championships.
