Pirates make strides at Virginia, South Carolina

Alyssa Zack (ECU Sports Information photo)

by: Cole Barnhill, ECU Sports Information

Posted: Apr 23, 2023 / 05:47 AM EDT

Updated: Apr 23, 2023 / 05:49 AM EDT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. / COLUMBIA, S.C. – The East Carolina track & field team sent athletes to meets at the University of Virginia and the University of South Carolina on Thursday and Friday.

The Pirates earned several more top 10 marks in program history led by Alyssa Zack’s program record in the 10,000m.

At Virginia, the highlight of the weekend had to be Zack’s program record in the 10,000m. Zack’s time of 35:07.77 bested Anna Bristle’s 2019 by nearly 10 seconds. More impressive still was that she closed the race in 1:13.56 – the second fastest split on any lap by any athlete in the field.

Lindsay Yentz earned a pair of PRs in Charlottesville as well with her times of 2:12.21 in the 800m and 10:57.36 in the 3,000m Steeple. Yentz already held a stop in the program record books in both events.

Rileigh Cardin also earned a season best with her clearance of 3.68m (12-0.75) in the pole vault.

On the men’s side, Chase Osborne’s time of 3:51.49 in the 1,500m moved him into seventh in program history in the event.

At South Carolina, it was the field crew who stole the show. The star of that show was Naadiya Faison who absolutely blasted what was still a new PR, improving from 15.28m to 16.22m (53-2.75), the second-best mark in program history.

Jared Harrell finally inched up a spot in the record book with his leap of 15.25m (50-00.50) in the triple jump, good for ninth all time.

Logan Carroll took another step forward in the discus with his mark of 53.06m (174-1.0), moving him closer to fourth in ECU history from his spot in fifth while Rebekah Bergquist put up a solid throw of 50.37m (165-3) for the win in the event.

Also taking a win was Elizabeth Taylor who took the long jump with a distance of 5.67m (18-7.25).

Not to be totally outdone, the sprint team excelled against a stellar field of competition on the day. Melicia Mouzzon took home a win in the 100m with a time of 11.39m while finishing fourth in the 200m with a time of 23.41.

The 4x100m relay team of Mouzzon, Rosalynd Hollingsworth, Naturi Robinson and Makhia Jarrett also had a very successful day with their time of 45.25, missing out on top 10 in program history by just one one-hundredth of a second, finishing third.

For the men, Royal Burris was his usual self with a fourth-place performance in the 200m in a time of 20.61, continuing to threaten his personal record in the event.

Asa Simmons had a good day as well, narrowly missing his PR in the 400m hurdles in a time of 54.71.

A few distance runners did make the trip to South Carolina with Jenna Strange and Hayley Whoolery finishing second and fourth in the 5,000m, respectively, while Colin McCauley finished fourth in the event for the men.