MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore Danique Bryan of the West Virginia University track and field team won the women’s long jump title on Saturday to close out competition at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Bryan won the long jump with a mark of 6.25 meters (20’-6 ¼”).
In addition to Bryan's win, WVU added another win in the field events, on Friday, from sophomore Madelin Gardner, who set a WVU record in the women’s pole vault and tied for the win. West Virginia also notched a runner-up finish on Friday, thanks to Bryan's performance in the triple jump.
“We had a nice day today,” said coach Sean Cleary. “I was happy that the kids did not allow the subpar conditions to alter their mindset for their competition. Danique had another very strong performance in the long jump. Jumping this well in these conditions demonstrates how far she has progressed over the last few weeks. Amy (Cashin) rebounded off of a very average steeplechase last night to run quite competitively over 1,500 tonight. This should put her back on the right path as we move forward with the season. Candace (Jones) demonstrated a strong finish during the morning heats of the 1,500. We are expecting times much quicker from Candace over the next few weeks. Both Meghan (Jean-Baptiste) and Kita (Chaqieta Robinson) did a nice job in the hurdles. Once the warmer weather returns, I believe they will have big breakthroughs.”
In the women’s 1,500-meter run, senior Amy Cashin placed 17th with a season-best time of 4:25.09. Cashin shed 1.65 seconds off of her previous time set at the Bison Outdoor Classic. Redshirt freshman Candace Jones finished 54th with a time of 4:36.40.
The women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase consisted of three sections with the first and second starting on Friday, while the third section was held today. After the runners from the third section were factored in, Cashin finished 20th overall with a time of 10:42.22, and senior Megan Yuan placed 25th in 10:46.99.
Junior Meghan Jean-Baptiste placed 29th in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.92.
Sophomore Chaqieta Robinson finished 25th in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 1:04.87.
Friday’s competition was highlighted by Gardner’s record-breaking performance. She tied Georgia Stefanidi from Georgia for the pole vault title, clearing a WVU school record of 4.13 meters (13’-6 ½”). Gardner bested former Mountaineer record holder Katlyn Shelar’s 4.10 meters (13’-5 ¼”), which was set in 2013.
In yesterday's runner-up finish in the triple jump, Bryan cleared an outdoor career-best mark of 12.99 meters (42’-7 ½”), the fourth best in WVU outdoor history, while improving by .77 meters from her previous best set during last season.
Up next, West Virginia will compete at the prestigious Penn Relays from April 27-29 in Philadelphia.
