Track Rookies Vie For National Titles
June 08, 2010 | Track & Field
June 8, 2010
EUGENE, Ore. - Freshmen Tynita Butts and Matthew McConaughey look to capture the first national titles in East Carolina track and field program history as they travel to the University of Oregon for the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The meet is scheduled for June 9-12 at Hayward Field. Butts qualified in the high and long jump events while McConaughey represents the Pirates in the javelin.
Butts and McConaughey earned Conference USA titles in the high jump and javelin at the league's outdoor championships in Tulsa in May. Butts also won freshman-of-the-meet honors and now holds that distinction for the 2010 indoor and outdoor seasons.
Action kicks off for Butts Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. with the high jump. She then must wait until the last day of the competition when she will challenge the field in the long jump beginning at 12:30 p.m. McConaughey begins his quest for the national title simultaneously.
It is a return trip to nationals for Butts, as she just missed out on All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this season. She posted 1.78 meters in the high jump, good for 10th-place. The top eight finishers in each event earn All-America status.
The last Pirate All-Americans were Eric Frasure in the weight throw in 2007 and Michelle Clayton in the hammer throw in 1999. Clayton also competed in the 2000 Olympic trials in the same event.
