An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation:

I want to start by highlighting several of the outstanding accomplishments our student-athletes and teams had over the last week.

We had a record-setting weekend at the Carolina Challenge for the track and field program. Two Pirates set indoor school records in Columbia. Senior Ryan Davis registered a facility record in the weight throw at 22.20 meters to move into fourth place nationally. For those of you who never converted to the metric system (me included) 22.20 meters equals 72.8 feet. Ryan was selected as the American Athletic Conference Male Field Athlete-of-the-Week for his performance. Junior Sommer Knight cleared 4.15 meters (13.6 feet) in the pole vault, improving her own program indoor pole vault standard. She is currently ranked 19^th in the country.

Curt Kraft, Director of Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country, and his squad are gearing up for the AAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 28-29 in Birmingham, Ala. The Pirates will attend two meets this weekend – the Doc Hale Elite Meet in Blacksburg, Va., and the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C.

You can read more about the Carolina Challenge results here and please check out Coach Kraft's weekly recap on social media.

The Pirates men's tennis team under head coach Shawn Heinchon is undefeated through four matches thanks to a sweep of Navy and Winthrop last weekend at the ECU Indoor Tennis Center.

The Pirates travel to New York this weekend to visit St. John's on Friday, Hofstra on Saturday and the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Sunday.

Get caught up on all the latest with the men's tennis team here.

Congrats to senior golfer Dorthea Forbrigd for her 8^th place finish at the UCF Challenge in Orlando. Dorthea, who hails from Oslo, Norway, shot a closing round 4-under-par 67 to help the women finish 10^th. I would also like to welcome our newest student-athlete for the golf team, Oda Sofie Kilsti, who enrolled for the spring semester. Oda is a member of the Norwegian National Team and hails from Skodje, Norway.

Our men's golf team competed earlier this week at the Sea Best Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. and senior Blake Taylor posted a final round 69 to tie for 22^nd in the event.

Amanda Moore enters her third year leading our women's lacrosse program and they make their 2020 debut this weekend with road games on Friday (Furman) and Sunday (Presbyterian).

The Pirates softball team begins the 2020 season this weekend at the Kickin' Chicken Classic at Coastal Carolina, playing five games in three days.

The women's tennis team is back in action Saturday at UNC Greensboro.

Make sure you stay around at halftime of the men's basketball game tomorrow night against UCF. Coach Mike Houston will introduce our 2020 mid-year enrollees to the crowd and give a little sneak peak of the spring season.

Special day on Saturday in Minges
Saturday should be an exciting day in Minges Coliseum as the women battle Houston at 1 p.m. on National Girls & Women in Sports Day. Free admission for all fans.

Festivities tip off at 11:30 a.m. as the local Boys & Girls Club will have a clinic in the men's basketball practice gym with women's head coach Kim McNeill and other members of the athletics department.

We have numerous events planned for the day. A group of young girls (ages 7-13) have registered to shadow athletics employees throughout the game as they get a taste of what it's like to work in the sports industry.

E.B. Aycock Middle School Chorus will be singing the national anthem while the Greenville Civic Ballet will perform at halftime. Following the game, the women's basketball team will be signing autographs in the Hall of Fame area.

Also, congrats to freshman Taniyah Thompson for being named the American Athletic Conference Freshman-of-the-Week on Feb. 3. Taniyah averaged 22 points in the Pirates' two games last week, including 20 in a 71-65 home win over Memphis.

Aces for Autism Game, Debut of Sensory Room
I hope you can attend our fifth-annual Aces for Autism men's basketball game on Sunday, Feb. 16 at noon against Cincinnati. We are partnering with the Pirate Club and Aces for Autism to distribute t-shirts to the first 2,500 fans in attendance. In addition, the team will wear Adidas jerseys with the Aces for Autism puzzle piece symbol.

Sunday will also be the grand opening of the first Sensory Room at one of our athletics venues. Our athletics staff collaborated with the Human Development and Family Science Department to provide a room for attendees who are experiencing sensory overload from the experience. Special thanks to Dr. Jennifer Hodgson for her work on the project. The mission of this Sensory Inclusion Project is to ensure that everyone attending athletics events feels included, supported and welcome. As I have stated numerous times, fan experience is one of our top priorities. We want every person that chooses to attend our events to feel welcomed and have a positive experience.

The project includes team members who are designing a program evaluation plan to study the benefits of the sensory inclusion project on those with sensory issues, their support system, stadium personnel, and students who are staffing and supporting the sensory inclusion resources obtained for the project.
The room will be in the Developmental Motor Lab in Minges (Room 100).

We will be holding an official grand opening press conference on Friday, Feb. 14.

Aces for Autism is a not-for-profit center in Greenville that is dedicated to providing high-quality, evidence-based diagnostic, therapeutic, and educational services to people with autism spectrum disorder; ensuring service accessibility to individuals from any economic background; offering support and hope to families; and advocating for inclusion and acceptance.

60 Seconds is back
After a holiday break, we have a new 60 Seconds with the AD video to be released this week. I think you will enjoy getting to know one of our new additions to the athletics department. The only disappointment is our guest has not had eastern BBQ yet. That will need to change.

Illustrious career for Tom Morris
I hope you read the news last week about longtime ECU women's tennis coach Tom Morris.

I wish Tom well on his retirement and thank him for all his contributions to ECU Athletics. It's hard to truly sum up Tom's career. He has dedicated the last 22 years to moving the Pirates women's tennis program forward and it's inspiring to think of the impact he has made on countless student-athletes, coaches and staff members. In addition to his role at ECU, our community has been fortunate to have a leader be so involved in local programs. He was truly a difference maker for our athletics department.

A North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, Tom retires as the all-time women's tennis leader at ECU with 316 and numerous honors on and off the court. He also earned 68 wins while serving as ECU's men's coach from 1999 to 2004

Associate head coach Kirstin Burgess will assume the role as interim head coach beginning on March 1. Kirstin played under Coach Morris from 2003-06 and has served on the coaching staff since 2012.

Pigskin Pig-Out coming together
Plans are beginning to come together for the 37^th Annual Pigskin Pig-Out on April 17-18. We are looking forward to the famous pig cookin' contest on Friday night and then all coming together on Saturday and tailgating with friends and family while enjoying barbecue and football.

After several staff meetings, one of the priorities for the weekend is to highlight our local community. We will have a stage on the Taft Family Plaza right outside the Carl and Connie Rogers Pirate Club Level. It's a great opportunity to bring Pirate Nation together with local musicians, entertainers and we have lots of chatter that a dog show and a BBQ eating contest could be in the works. Details will be forthcoming in upcoming weeks, but we would love to hear from you if you want to be involved, please email Ryan Robinson at robinsonry18@ecu.edu.

Other events scheduled include the annual Pirate Club Golf Tournament, Pirate Equipment Sale, meet & greet with Coach Houston and the 2020 Pirates, a special Kids Zone area, the return of the Dunk Tank, and the Purple & Gold Spring Game at 1:30 p.m.

Admission is free all weekend and fans will be allowed on the field at the conclusion of the spring game.

Pirate Club Golf Classic
The Pigskin Pig-Out weekend officially kicks off with the Pirate Golf Classic at Brook Valley Country Club on Friday, April 17. Funds from the event help support student-athlete scholarships through the Pirate Club.

Look for Mike Houston and several members of his coaching staff to participate. I'm going to be participating, but I don't know if you can describe my swing as actually playing golf. I know we will have a great time for a wonderful cause.

It's important we all support this event as we continue to move the Pirate Club forward. The Pirate Club has several sponsorship opportunities available and details will be released in the coming weeks. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to Carrie Ritzler in the Pirate Club at RitzlerC18@ecu.edu. Hope to have great participation from our supporters.

Inspirational night at baseball banquet
This was my second year attending the annual ECU Baseball Banquet. Cliff Godwin and his staff do a tremendous job of producing a first-class event that really gives you an insight into the power of the program. Anyone in attendance leaves knowing more about the student-athletes and their story, and it's easy to see the closeness of this year's group. They are a true TEAM and you see it with how they interact with each other.

One of the highlights of the night was hearing former Pirate Turner Brown talking about his experience at East Carolina and with the baseball program. We are so fortunate to have a supportive baseball community and every student-athlete that comes to campus feels that support. The power of Pirate Nation made a lasting impression on Turner and it will continue to impact all the young people who go through the program.

We are nearing the start of the 2020 season with opening day at Clark-LeClair Stadium scheduled for Friday, Feb. 14 against William & Mary at 4 p.m. Earlier this week, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association ranked the Pirates No. 20 in their preseason poll.

Season and single game tickets are currently on sale. Pirate fans have seven different options to choose from and can purchase their 2020 tickets by utilizing ECU's Online Ticket Center or by contacting the ECU Athletic Ticket Office at (252) 737-4500.

As I wrap up, I would like to thank Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson for his leadership. We had our initial University Council meeting last week in the Student Center with more than 50 faculty and staff. Ron highlighted the importance of communication, work being done to improve our university and the construction of new educational facilities that will impact our campus and community.

We are making great progress toward our goals as an athletics department, but we have so much work ahead of us.

Pirate Nation, nothing is possible without you. We need you to purchase season tickets and attend our athletic events. Not only does it have an impact on our athletic department, you are supporting our student-athletes as they strive for excellence.

I look forward to seeing you on campus!

Go Pirates!

Jon

Players Mentioned

Dorthea Forbrigd

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