Pirates Head South To Gamecock Invitational

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina continues its outdoor season Saturday, traveling to Columbia for the University of South Carolina Gamecock Invitational.

The meet begins at 9 a.m. with the track and field events happening simultaneously.

"We are approaching our third track meet of the season," Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Curt Kraft said. "We are returning to the University of South Carolina for the second time and will be able to compete against some great competition once again. Both teams are coming off a great performance from last weekend's home track meet. We must continue to build on the momentum that we created from last weekend. We talk about getting better each weekend and this weekend is no different. This outdoor season is going by fast, so we have to take advantage of every opportunity."

The Pirates won the Bill Carson Invitational last weekend, defeating UNCW in both the men's and women's meets. The women downed the Seahawks 121-60 to win their fifth-straight team championship while the men picked up a 92-75 victory to capture the team title for the fourth time in the last five years the event has been contested.

On an individual basis, ECU set four meet records and won 27 events – 16 on the women's side and 11 on the men's.

Ryan Davis continued his stellar start to the outdoor season, breaking two meet records during the day in the hammer and discus with respective marks of 67.42 and 56.95 meters. Sommer Knight also put together a meet-record performance in the pole vault, clearing 4.11 meters, as did Matthew Russell in the 5,000-meter run – clocking in at 14:57.02. Knight's total in the pole vault moved her into first place on the American Athletic Conference performance list while Davis' mark in the discus puts him second in the league.

Royal Burris improved his 200-meter dash time to 20.98 in winning the event. He now sits third on the AAC performance list. Abby Yourkavitch also won her event, clocking in with a time of 35:30.15 to move into second in the league. Candice Whitley is now third in the American as she captured the event title in the discus with a mark of 49.24 meters.

Up Next: East Carolina returns to Columbia April 17 for the USC Open.

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Players Mentioned

Royal Burris

Ryan Davis

Sommer Knight

Matthew Russell

Candice Whitley

Abby Yourkavitch

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