Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Track & Field team officially started their outdoor season last weekend when they headed to Bethany for the Bison Invitational. After having a few first-place finishers on both the Men's and Women's side, the Cardinals are looking to carry that momentum into their first two-day event of the outdoor season when they head to the High Point University Verteklasse on Friday and Saturday in High Point, North Carolina.

At Bethany, Wheeling had some strong showings throughout the day as both the track & field athletes shined. On the Men's side, the Cardinals had one first place finisher to go along with a slew of athletes finishing in the top five of their events. On the track, the mid-distance and distance runners took control while the jumpers took center stage on the field. On the women's side, the Cardinals picked up two gold medals competing with the sprinters, jumpers, throwers, and pole vaulters all making their presence known on the day.

The first gold of the day for the Cardinals came on the men's side when TJ Tindal competed in the Men's 400-Meter dash. It was an event that he won at the 2022 MEC Indoor Track & Field Championships and looked to have a strong showing once again. He would come away with the gold to get his outdoor season started strong as he ran the event in 50.40 seconds to lead the field. It was the fifth fastest 400 time of outdoor season in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) this season and was just two seconds off the time he set at the MEC Indoor Championships.

Izaiah Browning also had a strong showing for Wheeling, taking fourth in both the 800-Meter and 1500-Meter to wrap up the day.
On the women's side, most of the success came in the field with both of the team's first place finishes coming in field events. It began with sophomore Keala McCurry in the pole vault, coming off an MEC Championship in indoor season. She posted the top height in the conference this past week, reaching 3.23 meters to win the event by almost a full meter. Freshman Tara Perry came next in the high jump and won her first-ever outdoor event jumping 1.50 meters to take the High Jump title. She won the event by .05 meters and got her first collegiate outdoor season started with a bang. 

After going through their indoor season, the Cardinals are geared up for outdoor season as they get the opportunity to compete in some new events while preparing for the second MEC Championship event of the season. Wheeling has six meets between now and the MEC Championship, all with the same goal of lowering times on the track and raising heights/distances on the field. The Women's team is out to defend their streak of three straight MEC Championships while the Men are looking to capture the first MEC team title in program history.

The Details