By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
March 13, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team completed the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., this evening with a 10th-place finish, as all seven student-athletes earned All-America honors.
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| West Virginia finished a school-best 10th at this year's indoor nationals in Fayetteville, Ark. Ilora Cipolat photo |
“Track and field, like all sports is about rolling at the right time,” coach Sean Cleary says. “2010 brought with it a 10th-place national finish and 10 All-America awards. This is the greatest moment collectively in WVU track and field history. To have our cross country team finish sixth in the nationals this fall and now to see this group emulate a top 10 finish themselves is historic. The efforts of this very special group of student-athletes, our coaching staff, combined with the fan support that we have developed over the years, surely makes this a very special moment.”
WVU earned the highest ranking of any BIG EAST team as it scored 18 points for 10th place. Oregon finished in the top spot with 61 points, while Tennessee finished second (36), LSU in third (35), Florida in fourth (33) and Texas A&M in fifth (31).
Junior Chelsea Carrier led the team today, as she earned her first ever All-America honors. The Buckhannon, W.Va., native started with a fourth-place finish in the pentathlon with 4,133 total points. She finished first in the 60-meter hurdles (8.29), fifth in the 800-meter run (2:19.49), tied for fifth in the high jump (1.71 meters) and placed 16th in the shot put (10.40 meters). The finish is the second best performance of her career and places her second on WVU’s all-time performance list for the event.
“Chelsea had to do something that she has never done before in the pentathlon. She had to break 2.20 for the first time ever in the 800-meter run to climb from eighth place to fourth in the overall standings,” Cleary says. “Clutch is the best word that I can use to describe Chelsea’s day.”
Later in the day, Carrier returned to earn her second All-America honor in the 60-meter hurdles with a sixth-place showing in the finals, as she crossed the line in 8.29.
Senior Keri Bland also earned her second All-America honor of the weekend for her performance the finals of mile, giving her a total of seven in her career. The Fairview, W.Va., native finished the race in eighth with a time of 4:42.79.
“It has been a very long and winding road for Keri Bland, “Cleary states. “Keri and I sat down after cross country and set up a plan to have her standing at the NCAA mile having earned her way back into elite status where she belongs. I am very happy that she kept her beliefs all winter to land her right where she was today.”
Junior Jessica O’Connell completed the Mountaineers trip to the NCAA Championships with an 11th place finish in the 3,000-meter race (9:18.78).
The indoor season is complete for the Mountaineers. They will resume action with the outdoor season on March 20 with the Wake Forest Demon Deacon Classic.