East Carolina University
Covered Bridge Open
Pirate Runners Begin 2010 Campaign
September 03, 2010 | Cross Country
Sept. 3, 2010
Women's Results | Men's Results
BOONE, N.C. - Junior Zack Montijo set the school record for a 6,400-meter race for the men’s cross country team and the women’s squad placed fourth of 10 Friday at the Covered Bridge Open, hosted by Appalachian State. The men’s contingent took ninth of 12 teams, turning in a pair of top-30 performances, while the women placed a trio of runners in the top 20.
The Pirate women trailed only a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference schools in North Carolina and Wake Forest and the host Mountaineers.
Junior Brittany Copeland paced the squad, as she has for every meet in which she has competed. She finished the 5K in 18:24.90 and came in 10th overall. Classmate Tara Wilson was one spot behind, completing the race in a career-best 18:29.95. Rounding out the top-20 finishers was junior Amanda Lapp, who placed 19th with a time of 18:49.93.
A pair of freshmen turned in top-50 performances with Chelsea Hollingsworth placing 28th (19:12.17) and Bjork Olsen checking in 50th (19:36.35). Classmate Amanda Tomlin was the final ECU runner to finish in the top 60, timing out in 19:50.01, good for 57th overall.
The next three Pirates to finish were sophomore Brooke Kott (20:26.21/80th), freshman Michelle Bailey (20:26.64/81st) and freshman Kelley Miko (20:37.00/84th).
Four more ECU runners finished in the top 100 with junior Andrea Barletta coming in 88th with a time of 20:43.66. Sophomore Britney Kott completed the race in 20:49.67, good for 92nd place. Sophomore Stacey Gonzalez (21:00.27/95th) and freshman Kaylee Bythell (21:03.82/96th) were just behind.
Closing out the contingent was freshman Olivia Slate, who finished in 21:28.60 to take 106th place.
On the men’s side, Montijo led the way, completing the course in a school-record 20:32.11 to claim 24th place. The previous top time for a 6,400-meter race was 21:05, set by Kyle MacKenzi in 2004. In 2008, Montijo led the Pirates in every race and was named the Conference USA Freshman-of-the-Year.
The team’s other top-30 finisher was sophomore Dillon Hawley, who checked in 30th with a time of 20:38.18, the second-best time in program history. A year ago, it was Hawley who paced the Pirates in all but one race.
Freshman Chase Miller was next on the squad, timing out at 21:29.79, good for 78th place. The time for Miller was the fifth-best in Pirate history. Sophomores Antonio Palmer (21:44.16/86th) and Grant Burress (22:07.72/97th) were the other two ECU runners to finish in the top 100. Their times were the eighth and 11th-best on the ECU all-time list.
University of Tennessee transfer Daniel Porter was the final runner for the men, coming in 106th overall with a time of 22:46.84.
The Pirates men and women return to action next Friday, Sept. 10, at the Seahawk Invitational in Wilmington, N.C.
