Bertrand Wins Pole Vault at Mason Spring Invite
April 09, 2016 09:17 PM | Track & Field
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Tori Bertrand of the West Virginia University track and field team posted a victory in the pole vault to highlight today’s competition at the Mason Spring Invitational in Fairfax, Virginia.
“This was an interesting day,” said coach Sean Cleary. “Temperatures in the 30s with winds up to 25-30 miles per hour at times. One of these weekends we are bound to get good track weather. I was pleased for the most part with those who stayed mentally strong throughout the day. Our pole vaulters had a very good competition after having last week’s meet cancelled due to hazardous weather. Tori (Bertrand) earns our performance of the week, after jumping her lifetime best.”
Battling cold temperatures and high winds, West Virginia placed ninth overall out of 15 teams, scoring 42 points. Dartmouth won with 119.5 points, followed by Bucknell in second (109.75). WVU finished just 1.75 points shy of a top-six finish and 10.5 points away from a place in the top five.
Today’s competition, which included six top-five finishes, was highlighted by Bertrand’s pole vault victory, the third best mark on WVU’s top five outdoor performance list.
Three of West Virginia’s pole vaulters placed in the top five. Bertrand won the event with a career-best mark of 3.91 meters, the third-best outdoor score in team history. Sophomore Madelin Gardner finished in third place, vaulting 3.81 meters, followed by sophomore Sara Finfrock in fifth place with a 3.55 meter vault. Sophomore Rebekah Lafata placed 11th with a vault of 3.40 meters.
Junior Megan Yuan competed in the 1,500 meters, posting a third-place finish with a time of 4:40.31.
West Virginia placed fourth in the 4x400 meter relay. The team of junior Brianna Kerekes, senior Kelly Williams, sophomores Rebecca Wendt and Bria Welker crossed the finish line in 4:10.18.
Freshman Faith Penny placed fifth in the high jump, leaping 1.65 meters, followed by senior Hannah Stone in sixth (1.60 meters) and sophomore Meghan Jean-Baptiste in seventh (1.60 meters).
Welker competed in her second event of the day in the 400-meter dash, placing seventh with a time of 59.53.
Freshman Chaqieta Robinson placed 14th in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.36.
In the long jump, freshman Danique Bryan placed 15th, marking 4.95 meters.
Up next, the Mountaineers will compete at the Bison Outdoor Classic in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, from April 16-17.
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