MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team won two silver medals and earned a total of eight All-Big 12 accolades at the 2016 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Sunday, held at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex in Fort Worth, Texas.
At the three-day championship, eight Mountaineers earned All-Big 12 honors for placing in the top eight: senior Hannah Stone, junior Amy Cashin, sophomores Sara Finfrock, Jillian Forsey, Shamoya McNeil and Millie Paladino and freshmen Danique Bryan and Faith Penny.
Sunday’s competition was highlighted by two second-place finishes. Cashin won silver in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Paladino came in second in the 1,500-meter finals.
“We came to Texas looking to put eight athletes on the stand to be named to the All-Big 12 Team,” said coach Sean Cleary. “I am pleased that we were able to accomplish that goal. Our freshman and sophomore class earned seven of those honors. We will take this momentum and run with it. I can say this about our team, we came to this meet and will return home knowing that every young lady who competed for the blue and gold did so with the utmost pride and effort.”
On Sunday, the final day of competition, six Mountaineers earned All-Big 12 honors: Cashin, Forsey, McNeil, Paladino, Penny and Stone.
Cashin appeared on the Big 12 podium after finishing in second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:23.68. She was just 6.46 seconds away from beating Oklahoma State’s Ingeborg Loevnes to win the title.
WVU’s other silver medal came from Paladino in the finals of the 1,500-meter run. In today’s final round, she crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 4:22.01. Paladino qualified for the finals after winning her prelim on Saturday with a career-best time of 4:21.09, the fifth-best time in WVU’s outdoor history.
Stone placed fourth in the high jump, marking 1.71 meters to earn a spot on the podium and All-Big 12 honors. Penny tied for sixth place in the event with a mark of 1.66 meters, also good for All-Big 12 accolades.
In the triple jump, McNeil placed sixth with a leap of 12.67 meters to also earn a spot on the All-Big 12 Team.
West Virginia took another top-six finish in the 5,000-meter run as Forsey placed sixth with a time of 16:42.18.
On Saturday, two Mountaineers, Bryan and Finfrock, earned All-Big 12 honors.
Texas won the conference title, while West Virginia placed ninth at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship.
The 2016 NCAA East Preliminary Round will be held from May 28-30 in Jacksonville, Florida, at Hodges Stadium.
For each individual event contested at each of the Preliminary sites, the top 48 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the competition. For each relay event, the top 24 declared relay teams will be accepted into the competition. Combined events (Heptathlon and Decathlon), are not contested at the Preliminary sites.
The individual event student-athletes and relay teams accepted into Preliminary Competition will be announced and posted on NCAA.com the week prior to Preliminary Competition.
