Firebirds Take Flight for 4th Annual East Coast Conference Championship Meet
2016 ECC Outdoor Track & Field Championship Central
ROCHESTER, NY – The fanfare surrounding the 4th annual East Coast Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship Meet may be centered around reigning champion and first-time host, Roberts Wesleyan College, but look for the two-time champion University of the District of Columbia Firebirds to turn some heads, as the seven ECC women's track programs compete on Saturday, April 23rd.
Two-time ECC Coach of the Year honoree Alton McKenzie said the team's focus is never just on one team in a championship meet.
"We will line up against all the teams competing in the championship, put our best foot forward, and we'll see where it leaves us when the points are tallied at the end of the meet," McKenzie said. "Roberts Wesleyan does have a tremendous amount of depth and will go in as favorites to retain their title. But we can't worry about them. We just have to compete against everyone that we line up against."
UDC, a historically strong sprinting team with ECC Championship Meet records in all three sprint events (100M, 200M and 400M), may be at a disadvantage with Saturday's weather forecast in the low 50's and 10-15 mph winds.
"A team made up primarily of sprinters won't benefit from cold weather," McKenzie said. "But everyone else will be facing the same thing, so we just have to compete. We're prepared…we just have to ensure we warm up appropriately."
The Firebirds will likely lean on their senior leader and reigning Outdoor and Indoor ECC Athlete of the Year, Simone Grant. McKenzie said Grant is one of a handful of very talented student-athletes he has been fortunate enough to coach at UDC.
"There has been a tradition of success here at UDC that has come with a lot of hard work," he said. "It has helped that Simone came in as a freshman and had the opportunity to train and work day in and day out with some other very talented student-athletes that came before her."
Also what rubbed off on Grant and some of the other upperclassmen on the team was an appreciation for simply having the opportunity to compete in a conference meet at all. The Firebirds only joined the ECC in 2011, and the conference only adopted Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field as a sport in 2012-13.
"We know what it's like to not have a Conference Meet to compete at, so we truly appreciate having an opportunity to compete on this stage. We don't take it for granted, so of course we will ensure we leave it all on the track, on the runway, and in the field every chance we get at the ECC Conference Championship Meet."
