Track: WVU Finishes Seventh at BIG EAST Indoors
February 24, 2008 07:00 PM | General
February 24, 2008
DAY ONE RESULTS | DAY TWO RESULTS
NEW YORK CITY – Marie-Louise Asselin and Keri Bland each won BIG EAST titles in day two action as the West Virginia University track & field team took seventh place with 52.5 points this weekend at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships at The Armory in New York City.
Asselin tied Pittsburgh’s Shantea Calhoun in being named the BIG EAST track performer of the year.
Asselin beat out Providence’s Danette Doetzel to win the 3,000-meter run. Asselin finished in 9:20.56, an NCAA provisional qualifying time. The Sarnia, Ontario, native almost reached the NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 9:15.00.
Bland edged out Villanova freshman Alison Smith to finish in 2:48.66 to become the 1,000-meter BIG EAST champion. The Fairview, W.Va., native won the 1K despite never previously running the event in her career before this weekend. Bland was the favorite in today’s finals after her preliminary time of 2:52.77 Saturday.
Asselin and Bland’s victories combined to add 20 points towards WVU team score.
Freshman Chelsea Carrier followed her outstanding 60-meter hurdles preliminary performance from Saturday with a new career-best in Sunday’s finals. Carrier placed third at 8.37 to give WVU six team points.
West Virginia picked up eight more points as sophomore April Rotilio took second in the 400-meter dash at a time of 55.60. Also, freshman Katelyn Williams placed eighth in the high jump, clearing 1.70 meters, to record a point for WVU.
“Winning three of the five major distance races allowed us to leave our mark this weekend,” Head Coach Sean Cleary says. “Then to have Carrier run like that and Rotilio get second in the 400; we maximized the talent that we have. Obviously, I know we’ll get better and that’s why I’m excited about the future.”
The Mountaineers earned 17.5 points on the first day of competition on Saturday. West Virginia’s distance medley relay set a new BIG EAST record en route to winning the event in 11:16.87. The first-place finish gave the Mountaineers 10 points.
Carrier placed sixth in the pentathlon with a career-high 3,665 points to give WVU three more points. Distance runner Clara Grandt gave WVU two points with a seventh-place finish in the 5,000-meter run and Kristen Loughry tied for fifth in the pole vault to add 2.5 points.
WVU next competes at the ECAC Championships on March 8-9, in Boston, Mass.
