East Carolina Men Open Season In Trackwire Top 25
January 12, 2005 | Men's Track and Field
IRVING, Texas - A pair of Conference USA men's track and field teams landed spots in the first Trackwire Top 25 ranking of the indoor season. East Carolina enters the first full-weekend of the track and field season ranked in a tie for 15th with 14 points, while TCU sits in a tie for 20th with 12 points.
The rankings are based on a number of projected points each team will earn at the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held March 11-12 in Fayetteville, Ark. and are compiled by respected track and field statistician Gary Verigin.
East Carolina freshman LaShawn Merritt will make his much-anticipated collegiate debut this weekend at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va. Merritt, who won a pair of gold medals at the 2004 U.S.A. Junior Championships and a trio of golds at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy, is projected to be one of the top sprinters in the nation this season.
Trackwire has Merritt slated to finish in the top three in the 200-meter and 400-meter sprints at nationals. Merritt won the Verizon Youth Athlete of the Year award, which is given annually to the nation's top high school track and field athlete.
The Horned Frogs are coming off an eighth-place finish at the 2004 NCAA Indoor National Championship and will be under the direction of first-year head coach Darryl Anderson. Trackwire projects the Frogs to have three athletes score at the national meet this season led by Kip Kangogo in the 3,000-meter race. Jonathan Jackson, in the long jump, and Jackson Langat, in the 800-meter race, are also projected to score for TCU at nationals.
