Track Squads Complete Second Day Of C-USA Championships
May 13, 2005 | Men's Track and Field
HOUSTON, Texas -- The East Carolina men's and women's track and field programs dropped to fourth and fifth place, respectively, after second day action at the 2005 Conference USA Outdoor Championships at the Carl Lewis/Tom Tellez Track and Field Complex Friday.
The Pirates, who have totaled 30 points so far and held a slim lead after Thursday night's competition, trail current leader Houston by 16.
ECU earned nine points Friday, getting six from Kyle MacKenzie's third-place standing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and three from Eric Frasure, who finished sixth in the discus throw with an effort of 48.50 meters. MacKenzie's effort served as a career-best and earned all-conference designation.
Friday also marked the official start of the sprint events as five East Carolina athletes qualified for Saturday's championships with strong performances in preliminary competitions.
Hector Cotto headed the list of ECU qualifiers with a first-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, recording a personal-best and NCAA Regional standard time of 13.90. In addition, Cotto also turned in a seventh-place preliminary standing in the 400-meter hurdle event (54.03).
B.J. Henderson will also advance to a pair of finals Saturday, qualifying in the 200- and 400-meter dash with times of 20.67 and 46.80. His effort in the 200 also marked a career-best and topped the NCAA Regional qualifying standard. Thomas Lewis was the last ECU performer to earn a spot in the finals after finishing third in the prelims of the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.55.
With its 30 points, the East Carolina women's squad stands fifth behind leader Houston (49), Southern Miss (46.5), USF (45.5) and Cincinnati (45) heading into the final day.
The Lady Pirates benefitted from three solid finishes in the pole vault as Lindsey Rosales and Tammie Mentzel both earned All-Conference USA honors after tying for third with 3.65-meter totals while Amy Hart was sixth (3.50). ECU also earned three additional points from a sixth-place finish by Alisha Hopkins in the long jump, who turned in a career-best and NCAA Regional qualifying effort of 5.98 meters.
Tara DeBrielle, who highlighted East Carolina's track performances by finishing first in the prelims of the 800-meters with a time of 2:11.83, joined four others who will advance to Saturday's championship round.
In addition to DeBrielle, others qualifying for the finals include Nicole Callaham (100-meter hurdles/6th/14.43), Aisha Bilal-Mack (400-meter hurdles/7th/1:02.52), Terri Davenport (200 meters/5th/24.06) and Portia Baker (400 meters/6th/55.00).
Field events scheduled for Saturday are the men and women's triple jump and shot put competitions, along with the men's high jump and pole vault. Saturday's running events are finals in the men's and women's 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,500-meter races. The other final races include the women's 100-meter hurdles, men's 110-meter hurdles, along with the men and women's 400-meter hurdle races and the men's and women's 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay races.
