ECU Begins Indoor Season At Liberty

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina starts its condensed indoor track and field season Thursday by sending a small group to the Liberty Elite Invitational in Lynchburg, Va.

ECU will compete against the likes of Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Delaware State, Georgia Southern, High Point, James Madison, Liberty, Norfolk State and Towson.

In the absence of the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pirate student-athletes will attempt to turn in times and marks good enough to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships scheduled for March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.

"We are very excited to kick off our Indoor season at the Liberty Invite this weekend," Director of Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Curt Kraft said. "The entire team has been working hard all fall. I am very proud of our teams on how we have handled these very challenging times. It will be nice to turn our attention to competing and hopefully get some good results this weekend."

Liberty Elite Invitational Pirate Competitors
Niejel Wilkins – Triple Jump
Brooke Stith – 60-meter high hurdles, long jump, triple jump
Mackenzie Whitaker – high jump, long jump
Sommer Knight – pole vault
Bria Stith – pentathlon

Wilkins enters the new indoor season after capturing the bronze in the triple jump at the most recent AAC Indoor Championships back in February of 2020. His personal-best mark of 15.31 meters is the best among registered collegiate athletes this weekend and the fourth longest in program history.

Brooke Stith is the reigning AAC champion in the triple jump, putting up a school-record mark of 12.82 meters to edge out Cincinnati's Irati Mitxelena. Stith also took fifth in the 60-meter high hurdles and sixth in the long jump at the competition. She is the top seed in the long jump entering this weekend's meet.

Whitaker is another reigning AAC title holder, picking up the gold medal in the pentathlon. Her school-record point total of 3,954 would make her this weekend's top collegiate seed if she were participating in the event. However, she is the top seed in both the high jump (1.70m) and long jump (6.05m).

Sommer Knight captured bronze at the 2020 AAC Indoor Championships, turning in a mark of 4.03 meters. Her personal-best performance of 4.15 meters puts her fourth among this weekend's field.

Stith competes in the pentathlon for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign where she put up a total of 3,587 points to take third place at the Penn State National.

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Players Mentioned

Sommer Knight

Bria Stith

Brooke Stith

Mackenzie Whitaker

Niejel Wilkins

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