Two Wins Pace WVU at YSU College Invite

Friday, January 19

Youngstown, Ohio

12:30 p.m.

West Virginia University

YSU College Invitational

January 19, 2018 08:07 PM | Track & Field

By: Joe Mitchin

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Redshirt seniors Amy Cashin and Maggie Drazba earned victories for the West Virginia University track and field team at the YSU College Invitational, on Friday, at the Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS), in Youngstown, Ohio.

RESULTS

Cashin won the women's 800 meters in a track-record and personal-best time of 2:10.76. Drazba, meanwhile, won the women's mile in her indoor season debut, crossing the finish line in 4:49.92.

Along with the two victories, the Mountaineers also gathered one second-place finish and two thirds as a team in the squad's first road meet of the 2017-18 indoor campaign.

"This was a very nice road trip for us," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "Most of the team either ran lifetime bests or were jumping at personal-best bars. Maggie Drazba showed a nice turn of speed in dropping down in the mile, and Amy Cashin showed that she is ready for a big winter. She and Maggie clearly came back from break fit. It's nice to see the kids rewarded for working hard over break."

WVU, which competed against over two dozen schools at Friday's meet, saw freshman Ellie Gardner break her own freshman indoor school record in the women's pole vault, earning a mark of 3.86 meters (12 feet, eight inches). The mark topped her 3.78-meter tally at the WVU Open on Jan. 13.

The Williamstown, West Virginia, native finished in second place due to a judge's decision.

"Ellie Gardner, in breaking the freshman pole vault record for the second week in a row, had a very strong performance," Cleary said. "I feel competing today will help prepare us for next week's meet at Penn State."

Redshirt senior Sara Finfrock and redshirt junior Madelin Gardner, who also earned marks of 3.86 meters, were awarded third and fifth place, respectively. The trio tied the fifth-best mark in the program's indoor history with their performances.

The Mountaineers' other third-place finish came in the women's mile, where redshirt freshman Sarah Wills registered a time of 4:59.86, finishing two spots behind Drazba.

Redshirt senior Meghan Jean-Baptiste recorded a fourth-place finish in the women's long jump. She earned a mark of 5.41 meters (17 feet, nine inches), moments after finishing sixth in the 60-meter hurdles final. Jean-Baptiste finished in a time of 9.04.

Later on, redshirt freshman Kyrielle Williams claimed fourth in the women's high jump. Williams, who won the event at the WVU Open, earned a mark of 1.61 meters (five feet, 3.25 inches) on Friday.

Additionally, freshman McKenna Smith registered a pair of eighth-place finishes in the 200 and 400 meters. First, the Bridgeport, West Virginia, native tallied a time of 58.29 in the 400, before crossing the line in 25.50 later on in the 200.

The Mountaineers will be back in action on Jan. 26-27, as the team travels to the Penn State National Open in University Park, Pennsylvania. The two-day event begins on Friday evening at 5 p.m. ET.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.