Pirates Break Multiple Program Records at American Conference Championships

Thursday, May 14

Denton, TX

East Carolina University

American Conference Championship

Pirates Break Multiple Program Records at American Conference Championships

May 18, 2026 | Track & Field

DENTON, Texas – The East Carolina track and field team delivered a historic and record-breaking performance at the 2026 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, highlighted by multiple conference titles, program records and standout finishes across the weekend in Texas.

The Pirates rewrote the record books in the men's 4x100-meter relay, as the quartet of Jace Coleman, Ja'Darien Parker, Rashun Fountain and Tyson Tippett clocked a school-record time of 39.01 to place second overall. The mark shattered the previous ECU program record set in 1987 by Pirate All-Americans Lee Vernon McNeill, Eugene McNeill, Kelvin Wrighton and Jon Lee.

Fountain turned in one of the top performances in the nation during the men's 200 meters, blazing to a school-record and conference championship time of 19.98. The junior became the first Pirate to break the 20-second barrier in the outdoor 200m and now ranks third nationally in the event. Ja'Darien Parker also reached the podium in the event, earning bronze with a 20.12 finish.

The ECU men's sprint group dominated throughout the championship meet. In the men's 100-meter finals, Parker captured silver with a 9.83 performance, Tyson Tippett earned bronze at 9.88, Jace Coleman placed seventh and Fountain finished eighth as the Pirates placed four athletes in the final.

On the women's side, Kelly Ufodiama continued her remarkable season by breaking her own school record in the 100 meters with an 11.04 performance en route to an American Conference title. Brianna Clayton also captured a conference championship in the women's 200 meters, sprinting to a winning time of 22.90. Ufodiama and Clayton both impressed in preliminaries as well, with Ufodiama posting a field-leading 22.57 in the 200-meter prelims while Clayton qualified fourth overall.

The Pirate women also found success in distance competition. Katrina Ford secured a bronze-medal finish in the women's 1500 meters with a time of 4:29.55, while Abrielle Schweitzer followed in fifth and Navaya Zales added a seventh-place finish to score valuable points for ECU.

Jordan Good added another scoring performance for the Pirates in the men's 800 meters, placing eighth overall after qualifying through preliminaries earlier in the meet.
East Carolina also received strong performances in the field events. Zion Glover posted a 49.25-meter throw in the discus, while Macy Dulaney recorded a 47.47-meter mark in the women's hammer throw competition.

Additional strong showings came from ECU's relay and sprint groups throughout the weekend. Daisha Shular qualified for the women's 100-meter final with an 11.44 preliminary time, while Brianna Clayton narrowly missed the final after posting an 11.52 effort. The women's relay teams also contributed key performances, with the Pirates competing strongly across the sprint relay events.

By the conclusion of the championship meet, ECU conference champions included Brianna Clayton, Kailey Elliott, Kelly Ufodiama, Rashun Fountain and the Pirates' 4x400-meter relay squad, capping off one of the strongest conference championship performances in recent program history.

2026 American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Men's Teams Scores (Final)
Wichita State, 171.5
North Texas, 138
South Florida, 116
Charlotte, 90.5
Rice, 82
Tulsa, 78
East Carolina, 59
UTSA, 41
Tulane, 32
Memphis, 11

Women's Teams Scores (Final)
1.     Rice, 142
2.     UTSA, 106
3.    Charlotte, 100
4.    East Carolina, 72
4. North Texas, 72
6.    Wichita State, 70
7.     South Florida, 66
8.    Memphis, 65
9.    Tulane, 51
10. Tulsa, 40
11.   Florida Atlantic, 15
12.   Temple, 14.5
13. UAB, 4


Men's Most Valuable Performer
Josh Parrish – Wichita State

Women's Most Valuable Performer
Sarah Pullium – Charlotte

Men's Freshmen of the Year
Carson Williams – Charlotte
Ryan Heeren - UTSA

Women's Freshman of the Year
Jasmine Stiede – Wichita State

Men's Coaching Staff of the Year
Steve Rainbolt – Wichita State

Women's Coaching Staff of the Year
Jim Bevan - Rice