Morgantown, W. Va. – The outdoor track & field season officially kicked off on Friday as the Wheeling University Track & Field team competed on day one of the WVU Marty Pushkin Invitational. The Cardinal throwers took the spotlight, with the men and women combining to have three competitors across two events. Two of those three athletes picked up top 10 finishes as the Cardinals got things going with a bang.
On the men's side is where the Cardinals would see their highest individual finish of the night. Erik Berroa would make his outdoor season debut, competing in the men's javelin. Berroa picked up his highest individual finish of the season, both Indoor and outdoor, taking third with a distance of 49.16 meters. He was strong from the beginning, hitting the 44 meter mark on his first throw of the night, and raising that to 48 meters by throw two. However, it was his last throw of the day that would hit the mark, adding almost a whole meter on to his next longest throw of the day. He threw nearly two meters farther than the next closest MEC competitor, and set himself up as an athlete to watch as the outdoor season rolls on
The women would also have a top 10 finisher on the day, with Trinity Ortiz taking on the women's side of the Javelin event. She would take 10th in the field, reaching a distance of 30.93 meters in the event. It would be the final throw that would see Ortiz hit the PR. After fouling on the first throw, she was able to add .8 meters to her second throw in order to hit the PR. She just beat out West Virginia Wesleyan's Bailee Einsphar for the top spot in the conference. The final Cardinal competitor was Mariah Pelkey, who took on the Women's Hammer Throw. The junior would take 23rd at the event, throwing a distance of 27.45 meters to round out the day for the Cardinals.
The Wheeling University Outdoor Track & Field team returns on day two of the Marty Pushkin Invitational, Saturday with first events beginning at 10 AM.
