Mountaineers Find Success in Raleigh, Stanford

Saturday, March 31

Raleigh, N.C.

11:00 a.m.

West Virginia University

Raleigh Relays

March 31, 2018 05:17 PM | Track & Field

By: Joe Mitchin

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team concluded action at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, California, on late Friday night, as well as the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday.

Raleigh Relays Results | Stanford Invite Results

In Raleigh, the Mountaineers added four top-10 finishes on the final day of competition at NC State's Paul Derr Track Facility, as freshman Ellie Gardner set the tone by posting a fourth-place finish in the women's pole vault. Gardner earned a mark of 3.50 meters (11 feet, 5.75 inches) in the event.

WVU combined to finish with eight top-10 performances at the two-day meet. A select group of Mountaineers also competed at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, California, during the team's two-meet weekend, combining to produce multiple personal-best times.

"As with many early-season meets, this weekend came with some tremendous, some good and a few performances that need to be tidied up," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "From here, we need to get recovered from the weekend and find the focus required to get through training, compete hard in April and emerge in May for the championships. April is a very big month for this team."

Along with Gardner, senior Sara Finfrock tied for sixth place in the women's pole vault invitational in Raleigh, earning a mark of 3.80 meters (12 feet, 5.50 inches). Later on, freshman McKenna Smith placed ninth in the women's 200 meters, crossing the finish line in 24.76.

Additionally, the Mountaineer team of redshirt senior Rebecca Wendt, redshirt sophomore Andrea Pettit and redshirt freshmen Abby Colbert and Antigone Archer took 10th place in the women's 4x1,500-meter relay in 20:33.13.

On Friday, WVU collected four top-10 finishes at NC State, as redshirt freshman Kyrielle Williams placed third in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.65 meters (5 feet, 5 inches). Redshirt senior Meghan Jean-Baptiste finished in fifth place in the women's 100-meter hurdles (14.53) and 10th place in the high jump (1.60 meters – 5 feet, 3 inches). Junior Faith Penny's 2017-18 season debut added to WVU's success, as she registered a seventh-place finish in the women's high jump invitational with a mark of 1.65 meters (5 feet, 5 inches).

Junior Danique Bryan also competed for the Mountaineers on Friday, taking 16th place in the women's long jump with a mark of 5.35 meters (17 feet, 6.75 inches).

"I was especially pleased to see Danique and Faith back in the mix in North Carolina," Cleary said. "I felt Faith did a very nice job of coming back from an entire year away from competition. We feel this is a small piece of what Faith will accomplish this spring. On the track, it was nice to see Meghan run a lifetime best in the hurdles."

At Stanford, five student-athletes represented the Mountaineers at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
Redshirt senior Maggie Drazba placed sixth in the women's 10,000 meters (section 2) late Friday night, recording personal-best time of 33:51.71. Redshirt sophomore Olivia Hill placed 22nd (34:47.73) in the event.

"Maggie Drazba, in what was the performance of the weekend, ran a big personal-best time," Cleary said. "Maggie's time at Stanford fell tenths of a second short of moving into the all-time top five at WVU. That statistic is very meaningful in that the five that sit in front of her all became All-Americans in that event. Olivia Hill was also exceptional last night, running a time that has made the NCAA Championships every year in recent memory. Our hope is that it qualifies again this year."

In the women's 5,000 meters invitational, redshirt senior Amy Cashin tallied a 16:36.96 for 12th place. Earlier in the day, redshirt freshman Sarah Wills placed eighth in the women's 5,000 meters (section 4) in a personal-best 17:03.80, while redshirt sophomore Candace Jones finished in 11th place in the women's 1,500 meters (section 5) in 4:33.48.

After a week off, the Mountaineers return to action at Bucknell University's Bison Outdoor Classic, from April 13-14, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

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