East Carolina Track & Field Heads to Penn State National
January 29, 2015 | Track & Field
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina track and field team prepares to compete at the Penn State National, one of the top collegiate indoor meets in recent years. The large meet features 27 schools including nationally ranked squads in No. 5 Penn State, No. 14 Villanova, No. 18 Akron on the men's side along with No. 9 Georgetown and No. 18 Akron on the women's side. The Penn State National will begin on Friday, January 30 and conclude on Saturday, January 31 at Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
"This is our third meet of the season," Head coach Curt Kraft stated. "The Penn State National has always been a turning point for our indoor season. Both teams have been training really hard over the past three weeks, even though the weather has been challenging at times. Our expectations as a coaching staff are that we continue to see personal bests and make major improvements on the American Athletic Conference best marks list. Both teams are starting to gain a lot of confidence in their abilities to compete at a high level. We have to continue to stay healthy and take care of the small things that eventually lead to winning on the track."
Last season, the Pirates saw their season take a positive turn at the Penn State National as East Carolina won three events and six student-athletes set school records while in Happy Valley. Several Pirates stepped up a year ago to lead the squad and the coaching staff is looking to get similar performances this time around.
Of the half a dozen student-athletes that rewrote the ECU record book, four are back in Purple and Gold. Aminah Ghaffar broke a 17-year old school record in the pentathlon after tallying 3,248 points last year as a freshman, while Kayla Padgett bettered her previous school record in the 20-pound weight throw registering a toss of 21.95-meters (72' 0.25"). Dylan Spadaccini continued the record-setting efforts as he set a new school standard in the heptathlon with 4,793 points and Avion Jones followed with a record-breaking performance in the high jump as he posted a then-school record clearance of 2.17-meters (7' 1.50").
The four record-setting Pirates will be back at it this weekend as they look to better their performances from last year. Additionally, East Carolina will be bringing other top athletes in Henry Johnson, Xavier Brown and Jorge Montes as well as Leah Lott, Tyshonda Hawkins, Janieyah Collins and Jasmine Dawson.
Following competition at the Penn State National, East Carolina will make a return trip to Blacksburg, Va., to take part in the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite Meet February 6 and 7.
Players Mentioned
