Walker & Wolter Punch Tickets To Nationals As Pitt Wraps Up NCAA East Prelims

BLOOMINGTON, IN – Senior Noah Walker punched his ticket to nationals as the Pitt track and field teams wrapped up action at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Bloomington, IN this weekend. Walker joins Felix Wolter as the lone Panthers to earn a berth to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, OR in two weeks.
 
Walker opened up action for the Panthers in the prelims with the best showing of his career in the hammer throw as he posted a school record heave on his second attempt to take sixth place in the event and earn his spot in the national meet for the first time in his Pitt career. Walker’s second throw traveled 224’11” (68.55m), breaking his own school record by nearly two meters.
 
Decathlete Felix Wolter secured his spot in Oregon at the ACC Outdoor Championships and didn’t have to compete at the prelims. He qualified in 13^th place for the decathlon and will be looking for his first outdoor All-American honor in a couple weeks at Hayward Field.
 
WEDNESDAY
 
Walker came up just short in his attempt for two bids to Oregon as he was able to finish in 21^st place in the javelin with a best throw that traveled 213’8″ (65.14m). He cleared the 70m plateau at ACC’s and closes out his career No. 2 on the top-10 list in the javelin.
 
In the long jump, senior Kollin Smith saw his season come to a close as he finished in 23^rd place with a best leap that covered 24’0.75″ (7.33m). Smith closes his career ranked second in program history with a personal best jump of 7.72m.
 
The Panthers had two chances to advance to the quarterfinals in the 400m dash on Wednesday. Senior Ade Jones-Roundtree came across in 47.61 to take 34^th place while Lonzell Feagin finished in 43^rd place in 48.32 seconds. The duo wraps up their impressive careers ranked third (Jones-Roundtree, 46.02) and fifth (Feagin, 46.36) all-time in the 400m dash in program history.
 
THURSDAY
 
The Panthers had a pair of seniors competing on the first day for the women at the preliminary round as Breanna Phillips was making her second appearance and Abena Atuobi was making her regional meet debut.
 
Phillips opened things up for the Panthers in the 400m hurdles and she took home eighth place in her heat and 42^nd place overall with a time of 1:01.69. Atuobi closed out the day of competition for the Panthers with a 33^rd place finish in…