West Virginia freshman mid-distance runner Mary Delaney earns first collegiate victory
By Joseph Smith
West Virginia freshman Mary Delaney is starting off her collegiate running career in style.
This weekend WVU hosted the Stan Romanski Open. Delaney, running in just her second track and field meet at the collegiate level, managed to snag the first-place finish in the women's 800-meter run. Delaney would pace the 48 finishers with a mark of 2 minutes, 15.29 seconds.
Delaney's first event win as an NCAA runner comes on the heels of her breaking her high school personal best in the 800-meter run during her college track debut. Delaney, a Frostburg, Md. native and Mountain Ridge High School alum, finished 17th out of a 45-women field at the USF Bulls Alumni Invitational in Tampa, Fla. on March 15th. Her time of 2 minutes, 12.22 seconds was over two seconds faster than her mark of 2 minutes, 14.25 seconds from the 2023 Maryland Class 1A Track and Field Championships, which stands as a Maryland Class 1A state record.
Delaney's 2:12.22 is good for the third-best women's 800-meter time for WVU this season. The Mountaineers will be back in action next weekend, split between the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. and the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Ca. , with both events scheduled for March29-March 30.