East Carolina University
C-USA Outdoor Championships
ECU Men's Track Finishes Fourth At C-USA Championships
May 14, 2006 | Men's Track and Field
May 14, 2006
EL PASO, Texas - Junior Eric Frasure closed out the 2006 Conference USA Track & Field Championships Saturday in the same manner he opened competition two days ago, setting a school record and earning NCAA qualification while leading East Carolina to a fourth-place overall finish at Kidd Field late Saturday night.
The Pirates completed the three-day event with 75 points, 29.50 behind third-place finisher Rice. Host UTEP captured the C-USA crown in its first year of membership with 222 points while Houston stood as the runner-up with 218.50. ECU finished ahead of Memphis (73), Tulsa (57), Southern Miss (54) and Tulane (3).
Frasure, who picked up his second-straight league hammer throw title during the first day of competition Thursday, shattered his own record of 51.81 meters in the discus event with a toss of 55.59 to tally a third-place standing.
Senior Hector Cotto turned in ECU's top finish of the day, standing second in the 110-meter hurdles with a NCAA qualifying and season-best time of 14.00. Kris Bell also placed in the event (sixth) with a personal-record clip of 14.95.
Freshman Jerek Hewett topped NCAA minimums in the 100 meters, completing the sprint in 10.43 to contribute a seventh-place result while David Rucker added a personal-best time of 10.55 to finish eighth.
In the 200 meters, ECU athletes logged sixth, seventh and eighth-place as Kevin Thompson, Hewett and Brandon Small posted times of 21.21, 21.63 and 21.92, respectively. Senior Bryson Bowling's time of 47.82 in the 400 earned a fifth-place standing and marked a new personal record for the senior.
Sophomore Matt Dennish paced the Pirates' distance runners with a sixth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run (3:56.10) while freshman William Collins stood 10th in the same event with a time of 4:21.06. Junior Derrick Carr helped back Frasure in the field events with a career-best distance of 13.67 in the triple jump (ninth).
ECU's 4x100 relay squad, consisting of Hewett, Rucker, Thompson and DeAndre Hyman, picked up six points with a third-place finish at 40.15, which also established a season-best and earned a ticket to regional post-season competition. The Pirates' 4x400 unit (Bowling, Small, Jarrett Newby, Aaron Marby) closed out the meet by placing seventh with a time of a 3:23.59.
The Pirates will now prepare for individual competitions at the NCAA East Regional, scheduled for May 26-27 at the Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.
FINAL MEN'S STANDINGS
1. UTEP, 222 points
2. Houston, 218.50
3. Rice, 104.50
4. East Carolina, 75
5. Memphis, 73
6. Tulsa, 57
7. Southern Miss, 54
8. Tulane, 3
