GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina University's men's and women's track and field teams will see their first full-squad competition this weekend as they participate in the Virginia Tech Indoor Invitational in Blacksburg, Va.

The Pirate men will be among 16 teams competing in the two-day meet, with competition scheduled to begin late Friday afternoon. The Lady Pirates are one of 17 women's teams at the meet. Included in the field will be competitors from nationally ranked Tennessee, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia's nationally ranked women, among others. ECU is the only current Conference USA school represented at the meet, but the Lady Pirates will get a look at a future C-USA foe in Marshall.

It will be the third meet of the indoor season for the ECU women, who have had limited invididual competitors in meets at Newport News, Va., and Chapel Hill, N.C., earlier this winter. The pole vaulting unit has grabbed headlines in the first two meets, with junior Tammie Mentzel setting and re-setting the school indoor record each time out. With her vault of 11-11.75 last Saturday, Mentzel has already met the qualifying mark for the ECAC Indoor Championships. The ECU sprinters will be in action Saturday for the first time this season.

ECU's men will see their first action of any kind this season. The Pirates return eight of 10 student-athletes who qualified for the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Championships last May, including juniors Domonick Richmond and B.J. Henderson, who have their names on school records for both the indoor and outdoor 4x400 meter relay.