Commanding Pringle Victory Highlights Day One of American Indoor Championships

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Jocelyn Pringle came in as the favorite and proved why with a commanding victory in the women's weight throw to highlight the East Carolina track & field team on day one of the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships on Friday.

It was semifinal day in the short events on the track and the Pirates took care of business from start to finish while the day's finals featured a handful of personal bests and 13 crucial points on the women's side from Pringle and Lydia Simmons in that weight throw.

First, the sprints had their say and made their mark. Three women got through to finals in all of the 60m, 200m and 60m hurdles. First, in the hurdles, Kailey Elliott and Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad, who entered 1-2 in the league standings, took care of business comfortably ahead of the field while Emma Hall ran a great race to a PR and the seven spot, earning her trip to the final. In the 60m, Kelly Ufodiama did what she does, breaking the meet record with a time of 7.25 seconds, while Jaidyn Ramsey and Brianna Clayton took care of business to get through to the final. Finally, in the 200m, it was 1-2-3 for ECU in the preliminary round with Ufodiama, Ramsey and Clayton making no doubt about their spots in the finals.

Those final round will take place at 1:45 p.m. (60mH), 2:05 p.m. (60m) and 2:45 p.m. (200m) tomorrow, respectively.

On the men's side, Terence Booth, Jr. had a solid day with the second-fastest qualifier in the 60m hurdles in 7.81 seconds to earn his trip to tomorrow's final while Dominique Alexander earned his spot in the 200m with a time of 21.25 seconds. Booth and Alexander are back in action tomorrow at 1:55 p.m. and 2:55 p.m., respectively.

In finals on the track, Kaylee McCullough ran a major season best in the women's 5,000m with a time of 17:15.94. The senior just missed out on points in 11th. The time also moves her up to seventh in program history in the event.

In field finals, Sarah Smith came heartbreakingly close to points in the women's pole vault with her clearance of 3.77m (12-04.50). Smith finished ninth by virtue of a tiebreak. In the horizontal jumps, Elizabeth Taylor and Skyler Harrelson took 13th and 16th in the long jump,

On the men's side in the weight throw, Brock Lasure closed out his season with a 13th-place finish.

But the story of the day was the women's weight. Pringle took the lead on the first throw of the day and never gave it up. Her second toss of 19.61m (64-04.00) ended up being her best of the day and made her one of only two competitors to clear 19 meters. The junior recently became the fourth ECU thrower ever to break 20 meters in the event and entered the competition a heavy favorite to win. With that weight upon her shoulders she did not disappoint, earning her first American Athletic Conference title.

It was a big day, too, for Simmons. The rookie bested her PR by more than a meter from 16.27m to 17.32m (56-10.00) for a surprise sixth-place finish. For a team looking to chase a team title on the women's side, those points may prove crucial.

Competition resumes at 10:15 a.m. tomorrow with the men's heptathlon where Avery Fraley currently sits in fourth with 2,828 points. Field events begin at 11:30 a.m. with track finals beginning at 1:05 p.m.

Commanding Pringle Victory Highlights Day One of American Indoor Championships

Players Mentioned

Dominique Alexander

Terence Booth, Jr.

Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad

Brianna Clayton

Kailey Elliott

Avery Fraley

Emma Hall

Skyler Harrelson

Brock Lasure

Kaylee McCullough

Jocelyn Pringle

Jaidyn Ramsey

Lydia Simmons

Sarah Smith

Elizabeth Taylor

Kelly Ufodiama

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