Grandt and Carrier Win Titles
By Allison Hoehn for MSNsportsNet.com
May 3, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University track and field athlete Clara Grandt took the 5,000-meter title, while Chelsea Carrier shared the 100-meter hurdle title today, at the BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Philadelphia, Pa.
The Mountaineers finished seventh with 50 total points, while Louisville won the team title with 138 points. Connecticut was runner-up with 102 points. Georgetown placed third with 91 points, while Notre Dame finished with 85.5 points for fourth place. Host Villanova came in fifth with 80 points.
Grandt finished with a time of 16:07.55. Freshmen Ahna Lewis and Sarah-Anne Brault posted NCAA regional qualifying times in the event; Lewis placed fifth with the time of 16:37. 26, followed by Brault who placed eighth (16:44.73). Sophomore Brooke Boening finished 15th with a time of 17:27.41.
Grandt’s time is the second-best in school history, only behind All-American Megan Metcalfe, who set the bar at 15:47.64 in 2005.
“The 5,000-meter race was the highlight of our day,” comments Coach Sean Cleary. “Today was Brault’s debut race and I’m very happy with her performance.”
Carrier shared the title in the 100-meter hurdle race, posting a time of 13.59. She shared the first-place finish with Mycaiah Clemons of Pitt. This is Carrier’s second-consecutive title in the event.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Kyllie Bebout, April Rotilio, Brittany Hohn and Carrier finished fifth in 3:47.37. The 4x400-meter relay team placed sixth with a time of 3:47.37. Jordann Mitchell, Carrier, Hohn and Rotilio combined for the finish.
“Both of the relay teams were big pluses for us this weekend,” adds Cleary. “Both teams over achieved based on their rankings going into this meet. I’m proud of the teams and the coaches who achieved this goal, which we set for ourselves early on in the season.”
Marie-Louise Asselin placed second in the 10,000-meter race (34:14.54), while Jessica O’Connell took eighth in the 1,500-meter event (4:27.20)
Rotilio finished sixth in the 400-meter dash (54.91), and Karly Hamric took seventh place in the 800-meter with a time of 2:11.50.
Alison Spiker took 11th-place in the 3,000-meter steeple chase (11:00.2), followed by teammate Kate Harrison, who placed 18th (11:15.1).
In the field events, Katelyn Williams finished in 10th in the high jump by clearing 1.60-meters. Teammate Natasha Redman followed in 13th place after clearing the same distance on her third try.
With WVU’s BIG EAST Championship finishes this year, the team averages the fourth-best program in the 16-team field. The Mountaineer cross country team placed second in the event’s championship race earlier this year, while the indoor track team tied for fifth place at the conference meet in February.
“It was a big goal for this program to be one of the top five programs in the conference,” says Cleary. “This past year’s accomplishments show the depths of this program across the board.”
