By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
January 16, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Junior led the No. 22 WVU Track and Field team today, as she met a BIG EAST qualifying time and broke a Penn State record in the 1,000-meter race at the Penn State Northeast Challenge in University Park, Pa. Jessica O'Connell
The Calgary, Alberta, native finished the race in second with a time of 2:47.59, respectively, which puts her fourth on WVU’s all-time list for the event. Senior also met conference qualifying standards in the 1,000 meter with an eighth-place showing (2:57.75). Clara Grandt
“The first meet back after the holidays brings with it some good, some average and some things we need to work on,” coach Sean Cleary says. “We will use this next phase of our training to better ourselves for the upcoming meets.”
Overall, the Mountaineers had eight student-athletes to meet conference qualifying standards, including O’Connell, Grandt, senior April Rotilio, juniors Kaylyn Christopher, Chelsea Carrier, Alexandra Acker, Katelyn Williams and sophomore Meghan Mock.
Carrier had an excellent showing on the day, with conference qualifying times in the 60-meter hurdles and the 60-meter dash. In the 60-meter hurdles, the Buckhannon, W.Va., native posted a second-place finish with a time of 8:51. In the 60-meter Dash, Carrier placed ninth (7.77).
In the 500-meter race, Christopher finished in 11th place with time of 1:16.86, while Rotilio placed 12th in the 200-meter dash (25.01).
In the field events, Acker led with a second-place showing after clearing 3.70 meters in the pole vault, while Mock finished fourth in the long jump (5.63) and Williams placed fourth in the high jump (1.70 meters).
Also racing well today was senior Keri Bland who finished fourth in 600-meter race with a time of 1:33.32.
WVU’s distance medley team of Christopher, Grandt, Mandy McBean and Brittany Wolford also raced well, finishing second with a time of 12:08.82.
The Mountaineers return to home action next weekend with the State Farm Games on Saturday, Jan. 23, at the WVU Shell Building.
For a full list of results from today’s meet, visit gopsusports.com.
