Pirates Sweep C-USA Athletes-Of-The-Week
September 27, 2011 | Cross Country
Sept. 27, 2011
GREENVILLE, N.C. - After helping the East Carolina men's and women's cross country squads to their third-straight ECU Pirate Invitational titles Friday evening at Lake Kristi, sophomore Jakub Trzasalski and senior Brittany Copeland have been named the Conference USA Male and Female Athlete-of-the-Week according to an announcement Tuesday by league officials. It is the initial league weekly award for either runner and the first time in program history the Pirates have swept the honors.
Trzasalski was declared Friday's meet winner as junior teammate Cory Hampshire, who finished first, ran unattached at the event. Trzasalski completed the 5K in 15:51.80, good for the 17th-best mark in the ECU record book. He has paced the Pirates in their last two meets and finished third on the team at the Covered Bridge Open, the first event of the year. The Barlinek, Poland, native becomes the first ECU male to be selected as C-USA's Athlete-of-the-Week since Zack Montijo on Sept. 16, 2008.
On the women's side, Copeland won Friday's event with a 5K time of 17:40.02, tied for the sixth-fastest mark in program history. The Stafford, Va., native now owns two of East Carolina's top-three 5K marks and four of the top-10 performances. It was also the third time in Copeland's career winning the Invitational and her second-straight meet victory after taking the Wolfpack Invitational crown Sept. 16. She is the first Pirate female to win the league's weekly award since Kay Livick Oct. 1, 2002.
Trzasalski, Copeland and the rest of their respective squads return to action next Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky.
