Track Squads Capture Titles At Prestigious Penn Relays
May 01, 2005 | Men's Track and Field
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The East Carolina women's 4x400 relay squad established a new school record, earned NCAA Regional qualification and captured the East Coast Athletic Conference championship to highlight the Lady Pirates' performance in the prestigious Penn Relays over the weekend at Franklin Field.
ECU's first-place performance in the event resulted from a 3:38.98 finish turned in by Portia Baker, Simone Baptiste, Tara DeBrielle and Terri Davenport. The mark surpassed the NCAA qualification minimum of 3:42.00 and topped the program's previous record of 3:42.03 set earlier in the season at the Texas Relays.
Davenport's anchor split time of 52.5 ranked as East Carolina's fastest ever while Baker recorded the school's third-fastest split in history at 53.9 to start the relay.
The Pirates' 4x100 relay unit, comprised of Reggie Williams, Andre Hyman, Thomas Lewis and B.J. Henderson, also enjoyed success by winning the IC4A division and meeting NCAA Regional qualification standards with a time of 40.40.
In addition, ECU's 4x400 relay team (Andrew Barber, Hector Cotto, Lewis, Henderson) recorded a first-place IC4A finish with a clip of 3:12.13.
Cotto added a personal-best effort in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.05 which also marked the junior's fourth time to reach regional qualification status. Eric Frasure stood sixth in the hammer throw with a toss of 60.38 meters for his fourth NCAA Regional qualifying mark while Terrance Myers was 13th with an effort of 55.63.
The Lady Pirates also used a second-place ECAC standing in the 4x100 relay race (46.14) to highlight ECU's track events. Aisha Bilal-Mack (1:04.04) and Nicole Callaham (1:05.14) competed in the prelims of the 400-meter hurdles but did not advance to the championship round.
In the women's field events, Alisha Hopkins finished 10th in the long jump (5.66 meters), Lindsey Rosales was sixth in the pole vault (3.65) and Chelsea Salisbury was 12th with a 40.72 meter javelin throw - marking the third time she surpassed the regional qualification minimum.
The Lady Pirates will compete at the Carolina Twilight Invitational Saturday, May 7 before joining the men's squad at the Conference USA Championships May 12-14 in Houston, Texas.
