WVU successful at Penn Relays

In the final events before the Big East Conference Outdoor Championships, the West Virginia track and field team hoped for strong marks in the 3,000-meter run and throwing event.

On Thursday night, runners Kaylyn Christopher and Letitia Propst competed in the 3,000-meter event at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. Christopher finished in sixth place, with her career-best time of 9:47.86. Her previous best was 9:51.85 in the 2010 outdoor season.

"This meet was going to be very important for me as I look ahead to next week’s Big East Outdoor Championships," Christopher said. "Since it is my first race of the outdoor season, I hoped to do well so that I can arrive at next weekend’s meet ready to go and confident."

In her first career 3,000-meter run, Propst had success by placing 17th with a 10:13.56 mark. She beat her personal goal of 10:20 and did well in the event for the first time. Propst has competed in the 1,500-meter and 800-meter events earlier this outdoor season.

The Ashland Alumni Invitational was scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday with throwers Terina Miller, Heather Adams, Alanna Pritts and Karissa Knabenshue set to compete.

Miller led all Mountaineers with a 53.82-meter throw for fourth place in the event, and her fourth-best distance of the outdoor season in the hammer throw. Adams placed fifth with a 52.94-meter mark, falling short of her career-best mark of 53.29 meters.

Pritts had a career-best mark of 42.24 meters in the hammer throw, surpassing her previous personal record of 41.72. The 42.24-meter mark replaced her fifth-best distance on the WVU all-time list.

The throwing events continued Saturday with the discus throw and the shot put event.

Adams earned a second-best career discus throw of 45.89 meters, earning third place in the event. The mark was just short of her 46.29-meter best.

"I believe this meet is important for building confidence for the Big East Outdoor Championships," Adams said. "I hoped to throw a new personal best in both hammer and discus."

Previously, Adams was a few feet off in both events. She hopes to qualify for NCAA Regionals in the near future.

Knabenshue competed in the discus event as well, throwing for 41.53 meters. It was also her second-best personal record. Knabenshue’s personal-best mark was at the Jesse Owens Classic where she threw for 41.61 meters.

Knabenshue also competed in the shot put event, achieving a 11.27-meter distance for the event.

A total of 18 WVU athletes have qualified for 14 events at the Big East Outdoor Championships, which will take place next weekend in Tampa, Fla.