MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team travels to compete at the 12th-annual Akron Invitational in Akron, Ohio, Feb. 5-6, at the Stile Athletics Field House. Events will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 and at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6.
“The Akron Invitational provides the team a great opportunity to compete on a 300-meter track, being that we will see the same size at the Big 12 Championship. This is important,” said coach Sean Cleary. “As with most programs around the country, keeping our athletes healthy and free from aches and pains is of the upmost priority. We have continued to train well, and we look forward to another big invitational.”
Twenty collegiate teams will participate in the event. Along with West Virginia and No. 19 Akron, the field includes Ashland, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Dayton, Florida Atlantic, IPFW, IUPUI, Kent State, Louisville, Marshall, No. 16 Michigan, Mount St. Mary’s, Ohio, Ohio Wesleyan, Saint Francis (Pa.), Towson, VCU and Xavier.
Last weekend, the Mountaineers competed at the two-day Penn State National Invitational on Jan. 29-30. WVU posted six-top five finishes, including three Mountaineers in second and two in third, as well as recording two career-best times and two season-best times. This was the second time this season the team competed at the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in State College, Pennsylvania.
Sophomore Shamoya McNeil jumped 12.72 meters in the triple jump to place second at the PSU National. She improved from her previous best indoor mark by .20 meters, which bumped her up to the No. 1 spot on WVU’s top-five indoor performance list. McNeil is ranked No. 5 in the Big 12 Conference in the event. The Portland, Jamaica, native also was named WVU’s Student-Athlete of the Week on Feb. 1, following her record-setting mark.
Junior Amy Cashin also was recognized for her second-place finish in the 1,000 meter-run (2:46.61) at PSU by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The USTFCCCA recognized the top 10 performances by collegians in each event based on the data collected by Track and Field Results Reporting System form last weekend’s college track and field competitions across all levels (NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, etc.).
Following this weekend’s Akron Invite, the Mountaineers will have a week to prepare for a busy weekend as they compete at the High Point team Challenge in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Thursday, Feb. 11, and then return to West Virginia to compete at the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, Feb. 12-13.
