East Carolina University
UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina, Appalachian State,
Eiler Breaks School Record At Western Carolina
April 05, 2009 | Track & Field
April 5, 2009
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Five individual titles, an NCAA regional qualifying mark and a new school record highlighted the East Carolina track and field program's participation in the first annual Mountains vs. Beaches competition, hosted by Western Carolina University. Western Carolina and Appalachian State teamed up to take on East Carolina and UNC Wilmington as the mountains team won the meet.
For the Pirate men, Kevin Thompson and Jerek Hewett turned in second and fifth-place finishes, respectively, in the 100m dash with times of 10.42 and 10.76. Then, Thompson notched his second NCAA regional qualifying mark of the season, taking second in the 200m dash and clocking in at 20.91. In the 400m dash, Ron Wright garnered a fourth-place finish with a time of 48.76 before Matthew Dennish captured second in the 800m run, turning in a time of 1:55.10. Dennish was not done however, as he earned the first ECU individual title of the day, winning the 1500m run in 3:54.18. Teammate Zachary Montijo followed that peformance with a title of his own, notching a time of 8:49.21 to take the 3000m run.
Then, a pair of hurdlers in Mario Briscoe (400m) and Kris Bell (110m) took second and third-place in their events, checking in at 53.90 and 14.59. Both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams also garnered top five finishes, sitting second (41.01) and third (3:16.72) respectively. In the field, Daniel Varela finished third in the hammer throw, recording a heave of 49.08m.
For the ladies, Chante Sessoms and Amanda Lapp finished second and third in the 400m and 800m dash events, notching times of 56.02 and 2:20.01. Then, Tara Wilson captured a pair of top five finishes in the distance races, taking third in the 3000m and fourth in the 1500m with times of 10:41.46 and 4:50.68. As for the hurdles, Jaslyn Grullon and JaQuanda Wright finished fourth and fifth in the 100m event, clocking in at 15.06 and 15.14. Additionally, in the 4x400 relay, the Pirates took third-place with a time of 3:55.44.
Danielle Eiler then enjoyed the most successful day for the squad, taking two event titles in the shot put (12.50m) and the discus (47.05m), breaking her own school record in the latter event. The hammer throw was also a strong event for ECU, as three athletes garnered top five results in Charlene Grady (second, 48.49m), Ashleigh Lee (fourth, 47.32m) and Kim Kanala (fifth, 46.81m). Then, capping off the competition was Nicole Tozzi, who captured the final event title for the Pirates, winning the javelin with a throw of 39.52m.
East Carolina will take next week off to prepare for its participation in the 115th running of the prestigious Penn Relays. The meet is scheduled for April 23-25 at historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa.
