Track: BIG EAST Indoor Title Sought

By Daniel Whitehead for WVUsports.com
February 17, 2012 11:31 AM

Sean Cleary

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After two months of competition, the WVU track and field team will send 18 athletes to the New Balance Track and Field Center at The Armory in New York City to compete at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 18-19.

The women’s heptathlon kicks off competition Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and events will run simultaneously throughout the day, ending with the distance medley relay at 5:15 p.m. Sunday’s events begin with the men’s heptathlon at 8 a.m. and end with the awards ceremony scheduled for 3:20 p.m.

“I have always stated that our teams are focused on the championship portion of the season,” says WVU coach Sean Cleary. “This winter is no exception. I feel our preparations have gone fairly well this winter.”

The Mountaineers will face top-notch competition at the league championships as they will compete with No. 20 Georgetown and traditionally strong programs in Villanova, Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette and others.

WVU is coming off a strong meet from last Friday’s Gold-Blue Meet in which personal bests were achieved and several re-qualification marks were earned. The 18 qualifiers competing this weekend will participate in 16 separate events, with junior Stephanie Aldea (800m, 1,000m) and redshirt sophomore Sarah Martinelli (mile, 3,000m) competing in two events apiece. In addition, WVU will travel Shakiyla Cosby, Shannen Daly, Kaylyn Christopher and Josie Crouch to compete in the relay events.

“Thus far, I feel we have had a number of girls step up and notch very good results,” Cleary says. “We simply need to add a few more names to that list. Our belief is that we will emerge from indoors with a much clearer and focused game plan for the outdoor season. This said, I expect a great team effort this weekend.”

Redshirt sophomore Chené Townsend owns the fifth-best mark in the BIG EAST in the 60-meter hurdles thus far this season at 8.53 seconds, while Kate Harrison and Kaitlyn Gillespie have the 11th- and 12th-best marks in the 5,000 meters this season. Stephanie Aldea owns the 12th-best BIG EAST mark of the year in the 800-meter run in 2:13.22.

Full results will be posted on MSNsportsNET.com at the conclusion of the meet.

For the BIG EAST Championship Central web page and live video of the events, go to this page.

For live results of the BIG EAST Championships, go to armorytrack.com/armory/bigeast.

For a list of the top performances in the BIG EAST this season, go to tfrrs.org/lists/799.

Schedule of Events

WVU Qualifiers:
Stephanie Aldea - 800m run, 1,000m run
Jenna Barreto - 400m dash
Stephanie Caruso - Mile run
Sydney Cummings - High jump
Kaitlyn Gillespie - 5,000m run
Jordan Hamric - Mile run
Kate Harrison - 5,000m run
Sarah Martinelli - Mile run, 3,000m run
Meghan Mock - Long jump
Stormy Nesbit - Triple jump
Hallie Portner - Mile run
Chené Townsend - 60m hurdles
Katelyn Williams - High jump
Brittany Wolford - 500m dash
Lindsay Kopenhaver - Pole vault
Katlyn Shelar - Pole vault
Heather Adams - Weight throw
Terina Miller - Weight throw

Events represented:
60m hurdles – Chené Townsend
400m dash – Jenna Barreto
500m dash – Brittany Wolford
800m run – Stephanie Aldea
1,000m run – Stephanie Aldea
Mile run – Stephanie Caruso, Jordan Hamric, Sarah Martinelli, Hallie Portner
3,000m run – Sarah Martinelli
5,000m run – Kaitlyn Gillespie, Kate Harrison
4x400 - Katelyn Williams, Jenna Barreto, Shakiyla Cosby, Brittany Wolford
4x800 - Kaylyn Christopher, Stephanie Aldea, Josie Crouch, Shannen Daly
DMR - Jenna Barreto, Stephanie Aldea, Kaylyn Christopher, Josie Crouch
High jump – Sydney Cummings, Katelyn Williams
Long jump - Meghan Mock
Triple jump – Stormy Nesbit
Pole vault – Lindsay Kopenhaver, Katlyn Shelar
Weight throw – Heather Adams, Terina Miller

Tags
WVU Track & Field, WVU, Sean Cleary

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