MVP Ufodiama Leads Pirate Women to Best Finish Since 2018

Friday, February 28

Birmingham, AL

East Carolina University

American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships

Kelly Ufodiama won the 60m and 200m titles

Photo by: American Athletic Conference

MVP Ufodiama Leads Pirate Women to Best Finish Since 2018

March 01, 2025 | Track & Field

Web Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The East Carolina women's track & field team earned their best team finish since 2018 as they finished fifth with 74 points at the 2025 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Kelly Ufodiama was named the meet's Most Valuable Performer and conference Freshman of the Year, awarded to the athlete and true freshman who score the most points in the meet.

Ufodiama showed why she is a star in the making as she did the double, winning the women's 60m and 200m. In both events she set meet records with times of 7.22 and 23.06 seconds as she ran away from the field for a pair of gold medals. She was joined in scoring in both events by Brianna Clayton and Jaidyn Ramsey. Clayton had an excellent run in the 200m with a time of 23.70 as she earned All-Conference honors and a bronze medal in third.

Ufodiama, the rookie out of Round Rock, Texas is the first woman in American Athletic Conference history to take home both Most Valuable Performer and Freshman of the Year honors in the same meet. Shaun Maswanganyi of Houston previously did so on the men's side indoors. She did so after scoring 21.25 points with her two individual titles

Ufodiama is also the first ECU athlete ever to achieve the 60m/200m double and the first woman sprinter to double in any two events at one meet, indoors or outdoors, since Rasheca Barrow won the 100m and 200m outdoors in 2000. She is the first sprinter, man or woman, to double at a meet since LaShawn Merritt won the 200m and 400m indoors in 2005.

In the 60m hurdles, Kailey Elliott raced to a title that was hers to lose with an excellent time of 8.19 seconds, narrowly missing her own program record but claiming an important victory. Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad and Emma Hall joined Elliott in scoring in the hurdles with Hall being the surprise of the day with her sixth-place finish in 8.45 seconds, her second PR in as many days.

In the field events, Faith Spencer and L'Nya Carpenter both finished in scoring position with fifth- and seventh-place finishes, respectively, in the triple jump. Spencer's leap of 12.52m (41-01.00) saw her just miss out on a podium finish but gave her four points in the meet.

The women finished out the meet strong with a 3:39.58 finish in the 4x400m, the second-fastest time in program history. The team of Hall, Clayton, Elliott and Ufodiama finished fourth in the event to pick up the final five points for the Pirates.

That result gave the team their final tally of 74 points, securing fifth place, both the program's best team finish since 2018 and most points since winning the 2014 CUSA title with 88 points.

The Pirate men finished in ninth with 23 points.

Alex Sawyer was the big surprise on the men's side as he stunned the field to top the podium in the men's mile. Entering the meet seeded second-to-last in the field and with only the 17th best time in the league this season, according to TFRRS, the wily senior used brilliant tactics to storm past the four-man lead pack in the final straightaway to claim the program's first ever mile championship. With his victory, Sawyer also becomes the Pirates first conference champion at a distance greater than 800m since Ken Voss won the indoor two-mile race in 1970. His time of 4:08.54 is the third fastest in program history.

Avery Fraley also had a great meet on the men's side, breaking his own program record in the heptathlon and becoming the first Pirate ever to break 5,000 points in the event with 5,150 as he earned All-Conference honors in his first try. His third-place finish was by just three points after entering the meet seeded fifth.

In the throws, Shakiel Dacres scored points in the men's shot put in eighth with a toss of 16.67m (54-08.25) while Brandon Gayle just missed out on scoring in ninth.

Back on the track, Dominique Alexander took fifth to score points in the 200m with a time of 21.18 seconds.

In totality, the Pirates had five event champions in the meet, it is the most for the team since having the same number in the 2015 outdoor and the most indoors since having six event champions in 2012.

Final Team Scores
Women
1. Tulane – 96
2. UTSA – 92.5
3. Charlotte – 84.5
4. South Florida – 83
5. East Carolina – 74
6. Rice – 59.5
7. North Texas – 44
8. Memphis – 43
9. Wichita State – 39
10. Tulsa – 15
11. UAB – 13.5
12. Florida Atlantic – 11
13. Temple – 7

Men
1. South Florida – 167.5
2. Tulsa – 94
3. Wichita State – 90.16
4. North Texas – 81
5. Memphis – 66.5
6. Charlotte – 50.83
7. UTSA – 50
8. Rice – 39
9. East Carolina – 23

Pirate Point Scorers
Women
Kelly Ufodiama – 60m, 1^st | 200m, 1^st
Kailey Elliott – 60mH, 1^st
Jocelyn Pringel – Weight Throw, 1^st
Brianna Clayton – 200m, 3^rd | 60m, 6^th
Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad – 60mH, 4^th
Hall, Clayton, Elliott, Ufodiama – 4x400m, 4^th
Faith Spencer – Triple Jump, 5^th
Emma Hall – 60mH, 6^th
Lydia Simmons – Weight Throw, 6^th
L'Nya Carpenter – Triple Jump, 7^th
Jaidyn Ramsey – 60m, 7^th | 200m, 8^th

Men
Alex Sawyer – Mile, 1^st
Avery Fraley – Heptathlon, 3^rd
Dominique Alexander – 200m, 5^th
Willis, Alexander, Scott, Moody – 4x400m, 7^th
Shakiel Dacres – Shot Put, 8^th