Pirates Conclude Day One at AAC Indoor Championships

Naadiya Faison took 4th in the weight throw

February 23, 2024 | Track & Field

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The East Carolina track & field program competed at day one of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday. Six individuals advanced to Saturday finals - led by Melicia Mouzzon who broke a pair of school records - and the Pirates scored points in three events on the day.

Through one day of competition, the Pirate women are in ninth place with 10 points and six of 17 events scored; the men sit at ninth as well with four points and six events scored.

First up on Friday, it was the ECU sprints show. Terence Booth, Jr. and Sydni McMillan both made a splash early in the day, finishing second in the preliminary rounds of the 60m hurdles to advance to Saturday's finals with times of 7.90 and 8.41, respectively. Royal Burris and Carlmelo Martin kept it rolling in the men's 60-meter dash, advancing to the final with times of 6.74 and 6.77. Burris also advanced to the 200m final with a time of 21.26 seconds.

But for the sprints, it was Mouzzon who made the headlines. The senior broke her own program record to lead all performers in the 60m prelims, running a time of 7.28 seconds before taking down an 11-year-old program record in the 200m prelims, running a torching fast 23.47 seconds to finish with the third-fastest preliminary time. Teliyah James joined Mouzzon in advancing to the 60m and 200m finals with times of 7.46 and 24.03 seconds, both PRs. Those times rank sixth and fifth in ECU history, respectively.

Over in the field events, Skyler Harrelson made the final of the women's long jump with a personal record leap of 5.81m on her way to finishing ninth. On the men's side, Jared Harrell came up short of defending his long jump title with a 10^th place finish, registering a mark of 7.01m.

The throws group represented the first points of the weekend for the Pirates with Naadiya Faison and Nyah Edwards finishing fourth and fifth in the weight throw with marks of 18.75m and 18.47m. Faison nearly put herself on the podium with her PR throw but was knocked down to fourth on the final round of the competition when North Texas' Allison Stigarll put up an impressive toss of 19.25m. Faison's mark did move her into the top 10 in program history, entering the charts at ninth all time.

The distance squad got the honor of wrapping up day one and Alyssa Zack started it off with a bang. Zack ran a 30-plus second indoor PR in the 5,000m, finishing ninth in the meet with the No. 2-time in program history at 16:53.42. Colin McCauley also competed in the 5,000m, moving himself up one spot in the program record books with a 14:53.91 personal best.

The men's DMR concluded the day with a fifth-place finish by Nick Willer, Jaelyn Green, Chase Osborn and J Henry Lyon who finished with a time of 10:06.54. That time is good for 10^th in program history.

ECU Results
Women
60m Prelim: Melicia Mouzzon, 7.28Q (1^st) | Teliyah James, 7.46Q (4^th) | Rosalynd Hollingsworth, 7.54 (13^th) | Calandra Henry, 7.59 (15^th) | Makhia Jarrett, 7.78 (22^nd)
60mH Prelim: Sydni McMillan, 8.41Q (2^nd)
200m Prelim: Mouzzon, 23.47q (3^rd) | James, 24.03 (7^th) | Henry, 24.32 (14^th) | Jarrett, 24.91 (26^th)
400m Prelim: Nyah Gore, 58.84 (25^th)
800m Prelim: Lily Schlossberg, 2:15.80 (11^th)
5,000m: Alyssa Zack, 16:53.42 (9^th)
Long Jump: Skyler Harrelson, 5.81m (9^th) | Elizabeth Taylor, 5.67m (14^th) | L'Nya Carpenter, 5.53m (17^th)
Pole Vault: Rileigh Cardin, 3.83m (11^th) | Sarah Smith, 3.53m (16^th)
Weight Throw: Naadiya Faison, 18.75m (4^th) | Nyah Edwards, 18.47m (5^th) | Fatima Anne, 16.36m (10^th) | A'riana Crumpler, 15.75m (12^th) | Rebekah Bergquist, 15.39m (13^th) | Jocelyn Pringle, 13.92m (19^th)
DMR: Schlossberg, Jarrett, Miller, Zales, 12:02.33 (8^th)

Men
60m Prelim: Royal Burris, 6.74Q (6^th) | Carlmelo Martin, 6.77Q (8^th)
60mH Prelim: Terence Booth, Jr., 7.90Q (2^nd)
200m Prelim: Burris, 21.26q (7^th)
400m Prelim: Jaelyn Green, 48.96 (15^th) | Blake Moody, 49.71 (20^th)
5,000m: Colin McCauley, 14:53.91 (15^th)
Long Jump: Jared Harrell, 7.01m (10^th) | Nate Williams, 6.99m (12^th) | Javariante Core, 6.21m (17^th)
Weight Throw: Brock Lasure, 15.87m (11^th)
DMR: N. Willer, Green, Osborne, Lyon, 10:06.54 (5^th)
Heptathlon: Starrett Vesper, 2,464 points (8^th) – 7.55 60m, 6.01m LJ, 12.55m SP, 1.71m HJ