MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Last weekend, the West Virginia University track and field team completed the 2017-18 indoor season in style as two Mountaineers earned All-American status at the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.
Redshirt senior
Amy Cashin (women's mile) and redshirt junior
Madelin Gardner (women's pole vault) took ninth place in their respective events, garnering All-America Second Team honors. Cashin crossed the finish line in 4:43.67 in Saturday's mile final, while Gardner earned a mark of 4.31 meters (14 feet, 1.75 inches) in the pole vault.
In all, WVU saw six individuals and one relay finish in the top 10 of the Big 12 Conference's indoor performance list this season. The same number of Mountaineers also was included in the top eight of the final Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings of the year.
Gardner led the way for West Virginia this winter, collecting four school-record marks in the pole vault during the indoor campaign. Her season-best mark of 4.37 meters (14 feet, 4 inches) from the Akron Invitational on Feb. 3 topped the region and finished No. 2 in the Big 12. She qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with the eighth-best mark in the country.
For her efforts, the Williamstown, West Virginia, native was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on March 7.
Cashin qualified for the NCAA indoor meet in the 1-mile run with a season-best time of 4:36.89 (converted) from Feb. 17's UCS Invitational. The performance was the best in the Big 12 this indoor season and No. 2 in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
The Werribee, Victoria, Australia, native also landed on multiple performance lists in the women's 3,000 meters. Her season-best time of 9:11.24 from the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Feb. 9 became the second-fastest in program history, behind only former NCAA champion Megan Metcalfe (8:58.17 in 2005). Cashin ranked second in the Big 12 and Mid-Atlantic Region, as well as 33rd nationally, in the event this winter.
Redshirt senior
Maggie Drazba also finished ranked in a pair of long-distance events. She was sixth in the Big 12 and Mid-Atlantic Region in the 3,000 meters, earning a season-best time of 9:27.37 at the Penn State National Open on Jan. 27. Drazba also claimed the No. 5 spot in the Big 12 in the women's 5,000 meters with a time of 16:34.48 from the David Hemery Valentine Invitational.
Additionally, senior
Shamoya McNeil finished the indoor season ranked No. 1 in the region and No. 7 in the conference in the women's triple jump. McNeil registered a season-best mark of 12.85 meters (42 feet, 2 inches) at the Big 12 Indoor Championship on Feb. 24, good for a bronze medal. The mark also ranked No. 38 nationally ahead of the NCAA meet.
Junior
Danique Bryan, who recorded a mark of 12.36 meters (40 feet, 6.75 inches) in the triple jump at the Penn State National Open, claimed the No. 3 spot in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the event. Senior
Sara Finfrock finished No. 4 in the region and No. 6 in the Big 12 in the pole vault, earning a season-best mark of 4.05 meters (13 feet, 3.5 inches) at the Chipotle Marshall Invitational on Feb. 9.
WVU's team of redshirt freshman
Sarah Wills, freshman
McKenna Smith, redshirt sophomore
Candace Jones and Cashin earned a time of 11:28.20 in the distance medley relay at the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Feb. 23. The group finished fourth in the event and tallied the conference's fifth-best time of the winter. The group also finished ranked No. 7 in the region.
Together, the Mountaineers earned six All-Big 12 honors in three different events at the conference meet. Cashin also was recognized as the Big 12's Track and Field Female Athlete of the Week on Jan. 24, marking the program's first weekly Big 12 award since joining the conference in the 2012-13 season. She won the award again on Feb. 21.
With the indoor season now complete, the Mountaineers are set to open the 2018 outdoor campaign at the 49er Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina, from March 15-17.
