Gardner, Jackson Earn Wins at YSU

Friday, January 18

Youngstown, Ohio

12:30 p.m.

West Virginia University

YSU College Invite

January 18, 2019 10:10 PM | Track & Field

Results

By: Joe Mitchin

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Redshirt senior Madelin Gardner and redshirt freshman Hayley Jackson earned victories for the West Virginia University track and field team at the YSU College Invite in Youngstown, Ohio, on Friday.

Gardner won the women's pole vault (seeded) with a season-best and Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS)-record jump of 4.31 meters (14 feet, 1.75 inches), while Jackson won the women's 3,000 meters with a time of 9:54.40. Gardner shattered the previous facility best of 4.03 meters in the pole vault, which was set in 2016.

The Williamstown, West Virginia, native cleared marks of 4.05 and 4.15 meters before her final jump of 4.31 meters to cap the evening. Jackson, meanwhile, showed her dominance, winning the 3,000 meters by more than 17 seconds.

The Mountaineers combined to tally eight top-eight finishes on the day, including four top-three performances in the squad's first road meet of the indoor season.

Along with Gardner and Jackson, freshman Peter-Gay McKenzie placed second in the women's 60-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 7.73. The Clarendon, Jamaica, native also registered a third-place finish in the women's high jump (unseeded) with a mark of 1.57 meters (5 feet, 1.75 inches), and she helped the Mountaineer 4x400-meter relay team to a ninth-place finish.

McKenzie teamed with fellow freshmen Tessa Constantine, Margaret Rymer and Mikenna Vanderheyden to earn a time of 4:06.28.

Earlier in the evening, Vanderheyden recorded a time of 1:17.69 in the women's 500 meters, good for fourth place, while Rymer (1:24.79) took 18th place in the event. Redshirt sophomore Antigone Archer finished eighth in the women's mile (5:08.64), ahead of redshirt junior Andrea Pettit, who finished 31st with a time of 5:56.05.

Joining Jackson in the women's 3,000 meters was redshirt freshman Marianne Abdalah, who finished seventh with a time of 10:24.17. Additionally, redshirt freshman Katherine Dowie recorded a 10th-place finish in the women's 800 meters (2:22.28).

In Friday's field events, freshman Molly DeBone placed seventh in the women's pole vault (seeded) with a mark of 3.50 meters (11 feet, 5.75 inches), while freshman Audrey Schlosser took ninth in the event's unseeded competition with a mark of 3.14 meters (10 feet, 3.5 inches).

Sophomore Michaela Ashford represented WVU in the women's long jump, where she finished in 15th place with a mark of 5.08 meters (16 feet, 8 inches). Freshman Sada Wright competed in a pair of field events, finishing 18th in the women's shot put (10.86 meters – 35 feet, 7.75 inches) and 24th in the women's weight throw (13.19 meters – 43 feet, 3.25 inches).

Friday marked the second consecutive season WVU competed at the YSU College Invite. The Mountaineers were one of 29 teams at the meet, joining Alderson Broaddus, Allegheny, Ashland, Bethany, Central State, Cleveland State, Carlow, Clarion, Duquesne, Edinboro, Georgian Court, Geneva, Lake Erie, Malone, Mount Union, Ohio, Pitt, Pitt-Johnstown, Point Park, Robert Morris, Seton Hill, Slippery Rock, Walsh, Washington & Jefferson, West Virginia Wesleyan, Wheeling Jesuit, Windsor and Youngstown State.

Up next, WVU travels to University Park, Pennsylvania for the first of two stops at Penn State during the 2018-19 indoor season. The Mountaineers will compete in the PSU National Open, from Jan. 25-26.

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