Saturday, February 23
Lubbock, Texas
2:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Big 12 Indoor Championship
WVU Adds Two More Podium Trips to Cap Big 12s
February 23, 2019 08:00 PM | Track & Field
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team concluded competition at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship with a pair of podium finishes on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
Redshirt freshman Hayley Jackson registered a fourth-place finish in the women's mile to lead the Mountaineers at Texas Tech's Sports Performance Center. The Lusby, Maryland, native crossed the finish line in 4:51.24, registering her second conference accolade of the weekend.
Redshirt junior Faith Penny also reached the podium for WVU, as she finished eighth in the women's high jump with a season-best mark of 1.68 meters (5 feet, 6 inches).
In all, the Mountaineers registered a total of seven Big 12 honors in four events by six individuals at the two-day championship meet.
"We had so many in this group come out and compete at the top of their potential," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "In a perfect world, I felt we could have brought home six or seven all-conference performances, and we did exactly that. I am very proud of so many of the girls' commitment to this competition over the past few days. Faith, Bria (Welker), Olivia (Hill) and Peter-Gay (McKenzie) are some that have been quiet this winter, but they brought tremendous effort when it counted the most."
Along with Jackson and Penny, six Mountaineers competed in the women's 3,000 meters on Saturday. Redshirt junior Olivia Hill logged a time of 9:52.27 to finish third in her heat and 11th overall. Redshirt freshman Bree Warren finished 15th overall in 10:04.00, while freshman Samantha Hatcher took 23rd in 10:12.36. Redshirt freshman Katherine Dowie finished 24th in a time of 10:13.26, while redshirt sophomore Antigone Archer (10:13.39) and redshirt sophomore Sarah Wills (10:24.81) finished 26th and 35th, respectively.
On Friday, Jackson helped West Virginia's distance medley relay team to a third-place, Bronze-medal finish. Wills, redshirt senior Bria Welker and freshman Mikenna Vanderheyden joined Jackson to claim the Mountaineers' best finish in the event at the conference meet since a third-place finish in 2013.
Additionally, redshirt senior Madelin Gardner tied for fourth place in the women's pole vault on Friday. Gardner, who was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday and the Big 12 Women's Athlete of the Week on Wednesday, earned a mark of 4.13 meters (13 feet, 6.5 inches) to reach the Big 12 podium.
"Our distance medley relay, Hayley and Maddy (Gardner) mixed it up with the league's very best and came home with some hardware," Cleary said. "We look forward to bringing on a few others who sat out the winter that should help us as we head into the outdoor season."
The Mountaineers finished with 15.5 team points at the meet. Texas earned a total of 128 points to repeat as Big 12 women's indoor team champions.
WVU will now await the announcement of the Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship qualifiers, which is set to be released on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 10 p.m. ET. The national meet commences from March 8-9, in Birmingham, Alabama.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUXCTF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Redshirt freshman Hayley Jackson registered a fourth-place finish in the women's mile to lead the Mountaineers at Texas Tech's Sports Performance Center. The Lusby, Maryland, native crossed the finish line in 4:51.24, registering her second conference accolade of the weekend.
Redshirt junior Faith Penny also reached the podium for WVU, as she finished eighth in the women's high jump with a season-best mark of 1.68 meters (5 feet, 6 inches).
In all, the Mountaineers registered a total of seven Big 12 honors in four events by six individuals at the two-day championship meet.
"We had so many in this group come out and compete at the top of their potential," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "In a perfect world, I felt we could have brought home six or seven all-conference performances, and we did exactly that. I am very proud of so many of the girls' commitment to this competition over the past few days. Faith, Bria (Welker), Olivia (Hill) and Peter-Gay (McKenzie) are some that have been quiet this winter, but they brought tremendous effort when it counted the most."
Along with Jackson and Penny, six Mountaineers competed in the women's 3,000 meters on Saturday. Redshirt junior Olivia Hill logged a time of 9:52.27 to finish third in her heat and 11th overall. Redshirt freshman Bree Warren finished 15th overall in 10:04.00, while freshman Samantha Hatcher took 23rd in 10:12.36. Redshirt freshman Katherine Dowie finished 24th in a time of 10:13.26, while redshirt sophomore Antigone Archer (10:13.39) and redshirt sophomore Sarah Wills (10:24.81) finished 26th and 35th, respectively.
On Friday, Jackson helped West Virginia's distance medley relay team to a third-place, Bronze-medal finish. Wills, redshirt senior Bria Welker and freshman Mikenna Vanderheyden joined Jackson to claim the Mountaineers' best finish in the event at the conference meet since a third-place finish in 2013.
Additionally, redshirt senior Madelin Gardner tied for fourth place in the women's pole vault on Friday. Gardner, who was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday and the Big 12 Women's Athlete of the Week on Wednesday, earned a mark of 4.13 meters (13 feet, 6.5 inches) to reach the Big 12 podium.
"Our distance medley relay, Hayley and Maddy (Gardner) mixed it up with the league's very best and came home with some hardware," Cleary said. "We look forward to bringing on a few others who sat out the winter that should help us as we head into the outdoor season."
The Mountaineers finished with 15.5 team points at the meet. Texas earned a total of 128 points to repeat as Big 12 women's indoor team champions.
WVU will now await the announcement of the Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship qualifiers, which is set to be released on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 10 p.m. ET. The national meet commences from March 8-9, in Birmingham, Alabama.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUXCTF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track & Field
High Jump
/ Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distance
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