Track And Field Begins Indoor Season In Chapel Hill

Friday, January 13

Chapel Hill, NC

All Day

East Carolina University

Dick Taylor Carolina Cup

January 12, 2018 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field

Live Results | Heat Sheets

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The ECU track and field program begins its highly-anticipated indoor campaign Saturday at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup in Chapel Hill. The Pirates will go up against Duke, NC State and the host Tar Heels.

The meet gets underway at Noon with the men's pole vault and weight throw, the first of 13 scored events to be contested throughout the afternoon.

"We are very excited to kick off our season this weekend," Director of Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Curt Kraft said. "Both teams have been working extremely hard all fall to get prepared for this opening weekend. We always look very forward to competing in this meet with our in-state rivals. The goal for both teams this weekend is to establish some solid marks and build some momentum to kick off our indoor season. I believe that with our returning talent coupled with some great new incoming freshmen will allow us to have a really good season."

On the men's side, a runner to watch is junior Stefano Migliorati who advanced to the national quarterfinals in the 800-meter run during the outdoor season last year. He is also the reigning American Athletic Conference champion in the outdoor 800m event while placing third in the indoor race a season ago.

Senior sprinters Desmond Dowling and D'Ante Yarborough will also look to produce award-winning senior campaigns. Yarborough will attempt to defend his Carolina Cup 60-meter dash title this weekend. Another threat to win multiple all-conference honors is junior Hakeem Horton who placed third in the 200-meter dash at the 2017 AAC Indoor Championships.

As for the women, junior Courtney Warner heads up the sprints efforts after qualifying for the NCAA East Preliminary in the 100m and 4x100 relay during last year's outdoor season. She also placed fourth in the 200m and fifth in the 60m at the 2017 AAC Indoor Championships.

The throws should also be a strength for the women's team thanks to seniors Galissia Cause and Mohogany Baker. Baker is the reigning conference champion in the discus while Cause excels in the shot put and discus, qualifying for the NCAA East Preliminary in both events.

The 12-member freshman class will provide an instant impact. Jada Terrell, who originally signed with Illinois, was a state champion in Virginia in the 55 and 100-meter hurdles. She was a part of three national relay championships and two national records while running the second leg on the Western Branch High School national champion shuttle hurdle relay team which ranked No. 2 on the all-time United States High School list.

Another rookie to keep an eye on is Brooke Stith whose sister Bria also competes for ECU. Stith produced a pair of personal records to win the long jump and triple jump state titles at the 2017 VHSL Group 5A State Championships and placed seventh in the triple jump at the most recent New Balance Nationals.

The American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships are scheduled for Feb. 23-24 in Birmingham, Ala., while the NCAA Indoor Championships will take place March 9-10 in College Station, Texas.