PROVIDENCE, R.I.- With a blizzard in the Northeast, Pittsburgh’s Carvin Nkanata and Syracuse’s Lauren Penney made the weekend count. Penney was named BIG EAST Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after running an impressive 3000m time at the Husky Classic. Nkanata earned BIG EAST Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honors after recording impressive marks in three events.

Nkanata finished first in the 200m (21.58), third in the 400m (46.31) and ran the third leg of the 4x400m relay at the SPIRE NCAA Division I Track Invitational. The relay team’s time of 3:08.54 currently ranks first in the BIG EAST and 11th nationally. The junior ranks third in the league in the 200m and third in the 400m.

Penney finished seventh in the 3000m at the Husky Classic on Feb. 9 with a time of 9:06.32. The senior ranks second in the league going into BIG EAST Track & Field Championships this weekend. Penney is the only BIG EAST women’s track & field athlete to be nationally qualified in two individual events, the 3000m and the mile (4:37.41).

According to the NCAA, “qualification to the [NCAA] championships is based on the descending-order list for the season…for each individual event contested, the top 16 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the competition. For each relay contested, the top 12 relay teams will be accepted into the competition…There are no qualifying standards for the championships season.”

The BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place Feb. 16-17 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. 

• Marquette senior sets team record in final regular season appearance

  • Kyle Winter broke the Marquette 600m record with a time of 1:19.07 at the Grand Valley State Big Meet

  • Winter entered the meet one-hundredth of a second shy of the record

  • The senior is the BIG EAST defending champion in the 800m, the first individual league championship for a Marquette indoor track & field athlete all-time

• BIG EAST ranks top-16 nationally

• Seven men’s and 14 women’s individual or relay competitors are currently nationally qualified

• Pittsburgh’s Brycen Spratling has recorded two individual qualifying marks to this point in the season, as well as being a member of the 11th-ranked Pittsburgh 4x400m team

• The top-16 individual and top-12 relay teams nationally will be invited to participate in the NCAA Track & Field Championship this year.

Below is a list of the top marks in BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field:

The Week Ahead

BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships

Feb. 16-17

SPIRE Institute

Geneva, Ohio

All times and rankings courtesy of the Track and Field Results Reporting System and the USTFCCCA.