Track: WVU Finishes Strong at National Open
January 30, 2005 05:45 PM | General
January 30, 2005
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| Regalbuto |
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The West Virginia University women’s track team recorded one first place and two second place finishes at the Penn State National Open on Jan. 28-29, in State College, Pa.
The Mountaineers posted their finest set of performances of the year against the best competition they have faced to date. WVU finished the weekend with one NCAA provisional, four BIG EAST and 11 ECAC qualifying marks.
West Virginia’s single first place finish came from junior Nancy Regalbuto, who won the high jump with an ECAC qualifying mark of 1.73 meters. The Hedgesville, W.Va., native’s first place finish was her third high jump championship in as many meets this season. Regalbuto also captured first place in the event at the WVU Holiday Classic and the Black Squirrel Classic.
Senior Jennifer Davis was one of two Mountaineers to secure a second place finish on the weekend. The Romney, W.Va., native finished second in the 1,000 meters after registering an ECAC qualifying time of 2:48.72. Davis’s time also broke the Penn State record of 2:49.00 set by Patty Murnane in 1979.
Sophomore Jessica Czaikowski was West Virginia’s other second place finisher, securing the second spot in the 60 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 8.37. The Tottenham, Ontario, native’s time was also an NCAA provisional performance, her third such accomplishment of the season. Czaikowski also produced national caliber efforts in the hurdles at the Black Squirrel Classic and Penn State Quadrangular.
In the preliminaries of the 60 meter dash, junior Junique Morris finished 13th with an ECAC time of 7.68 while sophomore Shani Boone crossed the line in 26th with a BIG EAST time of 7.91.
Boone (24.57), Morris (24.71) and Czaikowski (24.80) produced ECAC qualifying times in the 200 meters en route to finishing 12th, 14th and 15th respectively. Senior Pam Richardson qualified for the ECAC championships in the 400 meters where she finished 12th with a time of 57.32.
Senior Jennifer Kemp placed ninth in the 500 meters with an ECAC qualifying time of 1:15.53. In the mile, freshmen Maria Stover (14th) and Alison Spiker (19th) finished with BIG EAST qualifying times of 5:06.03 and 5:11.02 respectively. Joining Czaikowski in the 60 meter hurdles was sophomore Abbie Stechschulte who finished 14th in the preliminaries with an ECAC time of 8.82.
West Virginia’s relay squads posted two ECAC qualifying performances over the weekend. The 4x400 meter squad of Richardson, Morris, Mann and Boone crossed the line in eighth with a time of 3:51.49. The distance medley relay team consisting of junior Susan Davis, sophomore Halimah Bashir, Spiker and Kemp crossed the line in 11:53.91 en route to a fourth place finish.
In the high jump, sophomore Alexis Noel placed third behind Regalbuto to help West Virginia secure two of the top three positions in the event. The Detroit, Mich., native recorded a BIG EAST qualifying leap of 1.68 meters en route to her third place finish.
Senior Jennifer Hall paced West Virginia in the pole vault with a 21st place mark of 3.05 meters. Junior Michele McGinnis was WVU’s highest finisher in the weight throw where she recorded a throw of 13.71 meters to achieve an 18th place finish.
“We had another strong weekend overall,” coach Jeff Huntoon says. “There were over 50 schools participating and we came in and held our own. Nancy and Jessica posted great performances and we came out of the weekend with a slew of BIG EAST and ECAC qualifiers.”
West Virginia returns to action on Feb. 4-5, when it hosts the State Farm Games, its final home meet of the indoor season.
