Track: WVU Ready For BIG EAST Championships
April 30, 2009 02:17 PM | General
April 30, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team is set to compete in the 2009 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend. The meet, featuring all 16 conference teams, will take place May 1-3 at the Jumbo Elliot Track on the campus of Villanova in Philadelphia, Pa.
A total of 19 Mountaineers have qualified to compete and are looking to improve upon last year’s eighth place team finish with 47.50 points. Louisville won the 2008 team title with 106 points followed by Pitt (87) and Notre Dame (86).
“We want our kids to go out there and compete in their event as hard as they can,” comments Coach Sean Cleary. “We’d like to finish higher than we did last year and we’d certainly like get more kids qualified for the NCAA Regionals. Right now we have a program-high eight qualified and we are hoping for four or five more qualifying performances this weekend.”
Buckhannon, W.Va., native Chelsea Carrier will compete in the 100-meter hurdle event, looking to defend her 2008 title. Carrier qualified for the championships when she posted an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 13.63 in the semifinal race at the Duke/asics Invitational on April 4.
Senior Alison Spiker and sophomore Kate Harrison will compete in the 3,000-meter steeple chase. Spiker won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:44.15 at the Sea Ray Relays on April 11, which is three second faster than her fourth-place finish in last year’s BIG EAST Championships (10:47.55). Harrison is looking for an NCAA qualifying time in the event.
Marie-Louise Asselin will race in the 10,000-meter event while Clara Grandt will compete in the 5,000-meter race.
In the field events, Alexandra Acker and Kristen Loughry will compete in the pole vault event, while Katelyn Williams and Natasha Redman will fight for the high jump title.
Competition is set to begin with the multi-events on Friday, May 1 at 11 a.m. Saturday’s events will begin at 9 a.m., while Sunday’s start time is set for 11 a.m.
Live video streaming and results will be available on the BIG EAST Championship Central website at www.bigeast.org. A full recap will be available on MSNsportsNET.com following each day’s events.
