ECU Track Ready For East Regional
May 25, 2006 | Women's Track and Field
May 25, 2006
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- East Carolina will be well represented at the 2006 Men's and Women's NCAA Division I East Regional Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T University.
A total of 10 individual athletes and a Pirate relay squad earned post-season qualification and will compete at one of four regional sites for the opportunity to advance to the NCAA National Championships, scheduled for June 7-10 at Sacramento, Calif.
For veteran coach Bill Carson's men's team, freshmen Jerek Hewett and Kevin Thompson will compete in the 100-meter event while fellow rookie Brandon Small will try to advance in the 400 meters. Hewett (10.42) and Thompson (10.41) both posted their top times of the season at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn., on April 15 while Small ran a qualifying time of 46.99 at the Clemson Invitational a week earlier.
Senior Hector Cotto will make his second consecutive regional appearance in the 110-meter hurdles. He is coming off his top effort of the year after finishing second at the Conference USA Championships (14.00) and is currently the school's record-holder in the event after posting a mark of 13.78 during his junior season in 2005.
East Carolina's 4x100 relay unit, which turned in a season-best time of 40.14 during C-USA competition to earn qualification, consists of Hewett, Thompson, senior DeAndre Hyman and freshman David Rucker
In the field events, juniors Eric Frasure and Terrance Myers will both compete in the hammer throw. Frasure, who established a new ECU standard with a toss of 64.34 meters to win a C-USA title, recorded seven qualifying marks in eight tosses this season after earning indoor All-America honors with a seventh-place national standing in the weight toss. In addition, he will also vie for advancement in the discus after setting a school record in that event at the league championships (55.59 meters).
Myers's top hammer effort of the season was a 59.49-meter throw at the Penn Relays April 29. Including a second-place C-USA finish (55.71) two weeks ago, Myers logged six regional qualifying throws in nine attempts in 2006.
Freshman Akintunde Abisogun will also make his initial post-season debut after surpassing NCAA minimums in the long jump with a leap of 7.36 meters during a fourth-place C-USA result.
First-year women's head coach Curt Kraft will direct a total of three athletes - one sprint, two field event athletes - during the regionals.
Senior Terri Davenport, fresh off her fourth-place performance of 23.67 at the C-USA Championships, will participate in the 200-meter dash for the second consecutive season. Davenport has nipped the 24-second mark in her last two races (league prelim of 23.99) and is East carolina's reigning record-holder in the event after clocking a time of 23.67 during last season's C-USA meet.
Sophomore Chante Sessoms (long jump) and junior Chelsea Salisbury (hammer throw) will headline the Pirates' field event performers. Sessoms qualified during her last meet of the regular season, nipping the NCAA entry mark of 5.97 meters with a career-best leap of 6.05 during a fourth-place finish at the C-USA Championships. Salisbury also earned advancement at the league meet by establishing a personal record of 54.47 meters to take runner-up honors.
