BRONX, N.Y. -- East Carolina sophomore Kyle MacKenzie ran a school course record of 25:56.2 at historic Van Cortlandt Park at the 2002 ECAC Championships on Saturday. MacKenzie finished third overall and helped the Pirates to their best finish ever at the competition, ninth. ECU improved nine places from its 2001 finish.

The Lady Pirates finished in seventh place overall tallying 207 points. In her final race, senior Kay Livick was ECU's top finisher. She finished in fifth place with a time of 18:49.7. Fellow senior Kelli Litten also finished among the top 10, placing 10th with a season-best time of 19:11.6.

"I'm very proud of what both teams were able to accomplish here today," said Pirate head coach Len Klepack. "The men's team ran its best race of the season and we've got all of those kids returning next year. I'm very excited about the future of both teams."

Kristian Jorgensen was the Pirates' second top finisher, completing the course in a time of 27:36.9. Craig Schmidt ran his best race of the year and finished the race in 27:43.2