West Virginia Takes Home the Gold in Distance Medley Relay

This article was originally published on wvusports.com as part of West Virginia University’s official athletics program. Please find the link to the original story here.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Feb. 28, 2025) – The West Virginia University track and field team distance medley relay team claimed first place in the women’s distance medley relay at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday night at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas.

The DMR team made up of graduate student Sarah Tait, freshman Carlene Temple, sophomore Kishay Rowe and graduate student Ceili McCabe claimed the gold medal and conference championship meet record with a time of 11:09.42.

The win comes after West Virginia won the conference championship last year at the 2023 Big 12 Indoor Championships, which was made up of the team of alumna Mikenna Vanderheyden, McCabe, Rowe and Tait.

Redshirt sophomore Olivia Cress had the first podium finish of the day, after securing a personal best of 3,926 points in the women’s pentathlon. With the score, Cress moves to third all-time in program history.

In the 5,000 meters, freshman Joy Naukot claimed a silver medal in the event, with a time of 15:55.38. Additionally, redshirt junior Emily Bryce landed seventh overall, after posting a time of 16:26.04.

Graduate student Madison Trippett earned an automatic qualification to the 1,000-meter finals, after finishing first in her heat with a time of 2:49.86. With the time, Trippett claimed fourth place overall.

In the 400 meters, sophomore Lily Haught boasted a personal best time of 55.26 seconds.

Next, the Mountaineers continue competition at the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Saturday. West Virginia is scheduled to compete in the finals of the women’s mile, 1,000 meters final, 3,000 meters final, 4×400 meter relay final and the women’s high jump. Saturday’s meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET and can be viewed live on ESPN+.

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