Track: WVU Ready to Run at BIG EAST
February 15, 2006 08:49 PM | General
February 15, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University indoor track team will travel to Akron, Ohio, on Feb. 18-19, to compete in the 27th edition of the BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships. The two-day event will begin Saturday at 11 a.m.
A number of Mountaineers are currently ranked atop the BIG EAST performance list for individual events going into the weekend. Junior Abbie Stechschulte has scored the highest pentathlon point total in the conference this season. Her 3,747 points at Penn State’s National Open barely topped what Cincinnati’s Ashley Wilhelm (3,733) scored the same weekend. Both scores are NCAA provisionals.
Junior hurdle star Jessica Czaikowski and Rutgers standout Shameka Marshall are expected to be neck-and-neck for the 60-meter hurdle title. Marshall (8.25) and Czaikowski (8.26) are one-two in the BIG EAST rankings going into Saturday. Czaikowski also ranks fifth in the 60-meter dash and eighth in the 200-meter dash.
Senior Nancy Regalbuto has posted the fourth best high jump mark in the conference at 1.74 meters. Regalbuto trails a trio of athletes that have jumped a conference best 1.75m. Senior Susan Davis looks to make a strong run at first in the 1,000 meter run. Davis’ best time this season was a 2:51.40, trailing only Villanova’s Frances Koons (2:47.08) and Georgetown’s Maggie Infeld (2:49.39) for the league’s best time.
Last year, Pittsburgh earned 161.50 points to win its third BIG EAST title in program history. The Panthers figure to be one of the heavy favorites to repeat going into the weekend. Notre Dame returns several of its top performers from last season’s second place finish and is looking to claim the team’s first title since 2002.
Senior Mary Cullen is expected to make a major impact for Providence. She has posted the nation's fastest times in the 1 mile run (4:39.31), 3000m run (9:01.33) and 5000m run (15:39.43).
Rutgers will be lead by Marshall, who could legitimately challenge for titles in the long jump and 60-meter dash along with the hurdles. She has already automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the long jump with a leap of 6.49m.
This is the first year that newcomers Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and USF women's teams will compete at the conference championships.
