Pitt
Penn State National Open
Pitt Men Strong in Long Distance at Penn State Nationals
1/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Jan. 30, 2011
PITTSBURGH - Pitt men's track and field notched nine top-10 finishes at the Penn State Nationals this past weekend.
Freshman Micah Murray won the 500M Dash, crossing the finish line first at 1:03.20. Murray's mark tied the previous Pitt record in the event, but junior Jermaine Lowery surpassed the coveted time with a 1:02.81 showing last week at the Great Dane Classic.
Lowery nearly set another Pitt record, this time in the 400M dash Invitational, with a career best time of 47.79. The Pitt record is 47.59, most recently set by Maurice Patterson in 2000.
Sophomore Dontave Cowsette continued his strong start to the season with an impressive third place showing in the 800M run invitational, setting a season best time of 1:51.04. In the 800M run, junior Ben Hatch earned a sixth place finish.
Continuing the team's success in the distance events, sophomore Wesley Washington claimed seventh place in the 1,000M run. Washington turned in a career best time of 2:31.72.
In the 200M Dash, senior Antony Hobwana finished eighth overall with a season best time of 22.07.
Junior Folarin Ijelu jumped to an eighth place finish in the triple jump with a season best leap of 14.77m.
The Panthers also claimed two top-five performances in the distance events.
In the 4x800, the team of Sam Negley, Washington, Elliot Rhodes and Hatch, finished third overall, while Murray, Jerome Lowery, Reginald Steele IV and Cowsette, took fifth in the 4x400 invitational.
Sophomore Tashaun Hill and junior Dan Kwiatkowski also set season bests at the meet.
Hill made the semifinals of the 60m hurdles (8.07) and Kwiatkowski launched a throw of 15.97m in the shot put.
The men's team will be back in action this upcoming week at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. The two day event begins on Friday Feb. 4 and concludes on Saturday, Feb. 5 in New York, New York.
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Players Mentioned
