Pirates Set for 2025 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships

Thursday, May 15

Charlotte, NC

East Carolina University

American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships

Pirates Set for 2025 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships

May 14, 2025 | Track & Field

Meet Central Live Results Day One Stream Day Two Stream Day Three Stream

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina track & field program is gearing up for the 2025 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships being hosted at Charlotte's Irwin Belk Track and Field Center beginning Thursday and running through Saturday. Live results will be available via FlashResults.com and portions of each day of competition will be streamed on ESPN+ with Noah Frary, Bryan Fetzer and Kendall Smith on the call.

After a successful outdoor campaign, the Pirates have several competitors expected to factor into the scoring, including six individual and one relay team with performances ranking in the top three in the conference this season, including reigning American Indoor Most Outstanding Performer Kelly Ufodiama who ranks first in the league in both the 100m and 200m with times of 11.13 and 22.80 seconds, respectively. The rookie won the 60m and 200m at the 2025 Indoor Championships and will look to make it a calendar-year sweep in the short sprints in the outdoor meet.

Jocelyn Pringle, who won the weight throw indoors, also enters atop the conference in an event with her hammer throw season and personal best of 59.85m once again making her the favorite to stand atop the podium.

A few other notable Pirates will look to strike victory, including indoor 60m hurdles champion Kailey Elliott who enters the meet second in the league in the 100m hurdles with a season best of 13.35 seconds.

Additionally, the women's 4x100m squad looks poised to make a run at gold with the second-best time in the conference this season of 44.26 seconds—also second in program history in the event—being run by the team of Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad, Jaidyn Ramsey, Ufodiama and Elliott.

Back on the field, Faith Spencer will be looking for her Championship breakthrough in the triple jump after setting a new program record in the event with a leap of 12.96m during the season. That mark ranks second in The American this year.

A few Pirates to watch for who may not be ranked as high include 2023 Indoor and Outdoor Long Jump Champion Jared Harrell. Harrell has had a resurgence this season and his best in the triple jump of 14.73m places him fifth in the conference in 2025 while he always remains a threat in the long jump as an athlete who brings his best with medals on the line.

The competition would also be wise to know where Alex Sawyer is when he is on the track for the 1,500m. The 2025 Indoor Mile Champion surprised the field with a beautiful performance on the short track and will look to make it a sweep in the Queen City.

Last but certainly not least, Shakiel Dacres and Brandon Gayle have both turned in successful seasons and will look for even more in the men's throws. Dacres and Gayle rank fifth and 12th in the shot put and sixth in the 20th in the discus entering the meet and both will be threats to score.

Some Housekeeping
As a reminder to fans, the top eight in each event score points with 10 points being earned by first place, eight by second, six by third, fifth by fourth and on down. The top three in each event earn All-Conference honors.

The men's and women's competitors who scores the most points for their team as an individual are named Most Valuable Performer while the true freshmen scoring the most points for their teams are named Freshman of the Year. The Most Outstanding Performance award is given to the men's and women's athlete who records the mark ranking highest in the NCAA during the championship meet.

ECU Entries
Women
100m: Kelly Ufodiama, Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad, Skyler Harrelson, Jaidyn Ramsey
200m: Ufodiama, Harrelson, Ramsey, Kailey Elliott, Amaya Pleas
400m: Pleas
800m: Madelyn Mead
1,500m: Abrielle Schweitzer, Navaya Zales
5,000m: Kaylee McCullough, Hayley Whoolery
10,000m: McCullough
100m Hurdles: Elliott, Brown-Muhammad, Emma Hall
400m Hurdles: Hall, Kamoy Campbell
Pole Vault: Sarah Smith, Adeline Woodward
Long Jump: Harrelson
Triple Jump: Faith Spencer
Discus: Sashoy Benbow
Hammer: Jocelyn Pringle, Lydia Simmons, A'riana Crumpler

Men
100m: Mason Scott, Jonathon Willis
200m: Scott, Willis
400m: Blake Moody
1,500m: Alex Sawyer
5,000m: Zac Norton, Judah Lacroix, Will Palopoli
110m Hurdles: Justin Leaston
3,000m Steeple: Nick Willer, Zach Willer
Long Jump: Jared Harrell
Triple Jump: Harrell
Shot Put: Brandon Gayle, Shakiel Dacres
Discus: Dacres, Gayle
Hammer: Brock Lasure

Last Time Out
The Pirates wrapped up the regular season on May 2-3 at North Florida's East Coast Relays. The Pirates earned 16 top-10 event finishes on the weekend.

The women's relay groups might have been the highlight of the weekend as the foursome of Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad, Jaidyn Ramsey, Kelly Ufodiama and Kailey Elliott recorded the second fastest 4x100m time in program history with a 44.26-second effort which is now top 30 in the NCAA this season and third overall in the meet. Meanwhile, the group of Ufodiama, Elliott, Brown-Muhammad and Emma Hall won the 4x400m to finish the meet with a time of 3:40.15, the Pirate's third time under 3:41 this season and seventh in program history.

The team had measured success from the sprints group with Ufodiama taking third in the 200m with a run of 23.24 seconds. Ufodiama also took 10th in the 100m with a time of 11.50 while Kailey Elliott and Justin Leaston both took 11th in the 100m and 110m hurdles, respectively, with times of 13.49 and 14.22. Though, none of those times, save for Ufodiama's 200m were wind legal for record purposes.

The Pirate distance group had another good weekend with Nick Willer and Zach Willer going 5-6 in the 3,000m steeple with times of 9:15.26 and 9:16.50. Nick's time was his best since 2023 and Zach's was a career best. The twins now rank second and third in program history in the event.

Zac Norton nearly broke 15 minutes for the first time in the 5,000m as he earned a heat win and a ninth-place overall finish with a time of 15:01.16 seconds.

Out of the throws group, Shakiel Dacres finally broke through the 55-meter barrier in the discus with a throw of 55.61m. The mark was good for fourth on the day and moved him past ECU Hall of Fame thrower Eric Frasure into third in program history. Dacres also finished eighth, with Brandon Gayle taking seventh, in the men's shot put.

In the horizontal jumps, fresh off of her program record, Faith Spencer took sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.59m.