Mountaineers Close Indoor Regular Season
February 16, 2018 12:40 PM | Track & Field
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team concludes the 2017-18 indoor regular season at the Penn State Tune-Up, on Saturday, Feb. 17, in University Park, Pennsylvania.
PSU Meet Schedule | UCS Invite Meet Info
The meet is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. ET, at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Additionally, a select group of Mountaineers will travel to the UCS Invitational, at the JDL Fast Track, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Saturday.
The two events serve as the final competition before the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship next weekend.
"For the kids we feel need a little tune-up before the Big 12 meet, they'll compete this weekend," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "We feel like a few of the kids are coming on strong, and we'd like to have a little tune-up before they go. It'll be a quick trip, and we're trying to put them in the best position possible to do well at the Big 12 Championship.
"We're going to go in two directions again this weekend. We're going to take a couple girls to North Carolina, hoping to give them a chance to better their season-best times. The competition looks to be very strong down there."
Saturday marks the Mountaineers' second trip to Penn State this indoor season and the seventh since the start of the 2014-15 indoor campaign. The team also competed at the Penn State National Open from Jan. 26-27, earning four total event victories.
Last time out, WVU competed at a pair of meets from Feb. 9-10. The team earned a combined six wins and 14 top-eight finishes at the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, West Virginia, and the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts.
Redshirt senior Amy Cashin won the women's 3,000 meters in Boston in a career-best 9:11.24, while freshman McKenna Smith placed first in the women's 200 (24.66) and 400 (56.13) meters at Marshall. Smith also was a part of WVU's winning distance medley relay team, along with redshirt freshman Antigone Archer, redshirt senior Rebecca Wendt and freshman Marianne Abdalah.
In the women's pole vault, redshirt junior Madelin Gardner earned a first-place mark of 4.25 meters (13 feet, 11.25 inches), breaking the Marshall facility record in the process, while senior Shamoya McNeil claimed a victory in the women's triple jump in Huntington, with a mark of 12.42 meters (40 feet, 9 inches).
In this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings, eight WVU student-athletes are ranked in six different events, including Gardner (women's pole vault) and McNeil (women's triple jump), who own the No. 1 spot in their respected events. Gardner also ranks No. 8 nationally in the pole vault with a season-best and indoor school-record mark of 4.37 meters (14 feet, 4 inches).
As a team, WVU ranks sixth in the Mid-Atlantic Regional this week.
Saturday's action marks the Mountaineers' sixth consecutive weekend competition, including their fifth straight on the road. Looking ahead, the team travels to the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship, from Feb. 23-24, in Ames, Iowa.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
PSU Meet Schedule | UCS Invite Meet Info
The meet is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. ET, at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Additionally, a select group of Mountaineers will travel to the UCS Invitational, at the JDL Fast Track, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Saturday.
The two events serve as the final competition before the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship next weekend.
"For the kids we feel need a little tune-up before the Big 12 meet, they'll compete this weekend," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "We feel like a few of the kids are coming on strong, and we'd like to have a little tune-up before they go. It'll be a quick trip, and we're trying to put them in the best position possible to do well at the Big 12 Championship.
"We're going to go in two directions again this weekend. We're going to take a couple girls to North Carolina, hoping to give them a chance to better their season-best times. The competition looks to be very strong down there."
Saturday marks the Mountaineers' second trip to Penn State this indoor season and the seventh since the start of the 2014-15 indoor campaign. The team also competed at the Penn State National Open from Jan. 26-27, earning four total event victories.
Last time out, WVU competed at a pair of meets from Feb. 9-10. The team earned a combined six wins and 14 top-eight finishes at the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, West Virginia, and the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts.
Redshirt senior Amy Cashin won the women's 3,000 meters in Boston in a career-best 9:11.24, while freshman McKenna Smith placed first in the women's 200 (24.66) and 400 (56.13) meters at Marshall. Smith also was a part of WVU's winning distance medley relay team, along with redshirt freshman Antigone Archer, redshirt senior Rebecca Wendt and freshman Marianne Abdalah.
In the women's pole vault, redshirt junior Madelin Gardner earned a first-place mark of 4.25 meters (13 feet, 11.25 inches), breaking the Marshall facility record in the process, while senior Shamoya McNeil claimed a victory in the women's triple jump in Huntington, with a mark of 12.42 meters (40 feet, 9 inches).
In this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings, eight WVU student-athletes are ranked in six different events, including Gardner (women's pole vault) and McNeil (women's triple jump), who own the No. 1 spot in their respected events. Gardner also ranks No. 8 nationally in the pole vault with a season-best and indoor school-record mark of 4.37 meters (14 feet, 4 inches).
As a team, WVU ranks sixth in the Mid-Atlantic Regional this week.
Saturday's action marks the Mountaineers' sixth consecutive weekend competition, including their fifth straight on the road. Looking ahead, the team travels to the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship, from Feb. 23-24, in Ames, Iowa.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distance
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