Feb. 5, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The East Carolina men's and women's track teams continued their seasons by turning in strong performances all weekend at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup on the campus of Penn State University. The Pirates, who competed against a strong field including Penn State and C-USA foe Tulane, took home 40 top 20 results while also producing 13 top 10 finishes.

Sophomore Lanaire Lindo smashed the school record in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing the race with a time of 8.72. Additionally, junior Brandon Small took home the title in the 400-meter dash, securing a mark of 48.09. His win marked the seventh event victory for ECU in the last two meets.

For the ladies, Cholanda Silver captured the first top 10 finish of the day in the 60-meter dash, using a mark of 7.77 to take fifth. Shalice Anderson then produced a ninth-place result in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.73. As for the distance runners, Brittany Copeland finished 14th in both the one-mile run (5:01.83) and 3000-meter run (10:29.82) while five other Pirates provided top-20 finishes in the 3000 and 5000-meter races. In addition to Lindo's school record in the 60-meter hurdles, Lindsay Dolan took seventh in the same event with a mark of 8.99. A trio of East Carolina runners placed in the top 20 of the high jump as Valeria Moore, Dolan and Meghan Horne placed eighth (1.61m) and tied for 14th (1.56m) respectively. Rounding out the ladies competition, Stephanie McDougal provided a third-place finish in the pole vault (3.60m) while Tanisha Glover took 15th in the long jump (5.29m) and Charlene Grady ended up 14th in the weight throw (14.50).

The men began their meet strong as Small took third in the 60-meter dash, turning in a time of 7.00. Adian Sanderson and Kevin Thompson then finished second (21.67) and third (21.69) in the 200-meter dash. In the 400-meter dash, Christopher Richardson represented the Pirates well, placing ninth with a mark of 49.42. Jarrett Newby headlined the distance runners, providing a 12th-place result in the one-mile run (4:16.18) and a 16th-place showing in the 800-meter run (1:56.18). In the 600-meter run, Mario Brisco finished 13th with a time of 1:22.58 while Kristopher Bell took sixth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.26). The 4x400-meter relay team of Richardson, Small, Ron Wright and Sanderson was edged by Missouri but took second place, finishing the race in 3:13.18. In the field, Akintunde Abisogun provided a fifth-place result in the long jump, producing a mark of 6.90m.

"I thought we took great strides in a lot of different events this past weekend that will move us up in the Conference USA rankings," said head coach Kurt Craft. "I'm pleased that we are continuing to improve in all aspects across the board."

The Pirates continue the indoor season Saturday in Chapel Hill, where they will face off against rival North Carolina. The meet is scheduled to take place inside the Eddie Smith Fieldhouse.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article