Track: WVU Opens Season with Holiday Classic
December 05, 2008 11:05 AM | General
December 5, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team will open the 2008-09 indoor season on Saturday, Dec. 6, with the WVU Holiday Classic at the WVU Shell Building. The meet will begin at 9 a.m.
“A meet like this is meant to kick start the season,” comments Coach Sean Cleary. “The team has been training since August and they are excited to compete. Most schools don’t start this early and we use that advantage, and this meet, as a springboard into the winter with either a reality check or a confidence boost.”
The meet will feature teams from West Virginia Wesleyan, Seton Hill, Washington & Jefferson, Lynchburg, Glenville State and Juniata. Individuals from various schools will participate as well as unattached athletes.
Last indoor season was highlighted by a 29th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor nationals, behind the outstanding performances put forth by the distance medley relay team of Keri Bland, Marie-Louise Asselin, Karly Hamric and April Rotilio, and Asselin in the 3,000-meter run. All four return this year.
Sophomore Chelsea Carrier, who had an impressive rookie season, will return as the Buckhannon, W.Va., native won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.46 seconds at the 2008 ECAC Championships in Boston, Mass.
Carrier blasted onto the scene in WVU’s first indoor event, the 2007 Holiday Classic, where competing in her first collegiate meet, she won two events with BIG EAST and ECAC qualifying performances. She easily took the long jump with a leap of 5.71 meters and cruised to victory in the 60-meter hurdle prelims and finals. Carrier ran the 60-meter hurdles in 8.71 during the prelimary before running an 8.90.
The indoor season is highlighted by the State Farm Games on Jan. 24, in Morgantown, the BIG EAST Indoor Championships on Feb. 21-22, in New York, and the Notre Dame Last Chance meet on March 6-7, in South Bend, Ind. The NCAA Nationals will take place in College Station, Texas, on March 13-14.
