Here are some numbers that help explain the sustained success of the East Carolina track and field teams: 14 – Number of Pirate seasons for head coach Curt Kraft 16 – Number of Pirate seasons for throwing coach David Price 11 – Number of Pirate seasons for sprints, relays and hurdles coach Udon Cheek 22… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
The Bradsher Beat on Women's Basketball
McNeill aims for change in program’s culture
Kim McNeill’s motivation for taking the head coaching job at East Carolina was the same motivation that prompted her to move back east twelve years ago after she tried living in California. Family. Berkeley, California was too far away from her biological family, so in 2007 McNeill moved back closer to home and took an… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
Electric crowd helps fuel ECU win over Devils
In front of the largest Clark-LeClair Stadium crowd of the season, the East Carolina baseball team defeated the Duke Blue Devils 6-1 on the force of two powerful three-run innings Wednesday night. The 4,744 Pirate fans who witnessed the win also constituted the 15th largest attendance in the ballpark’s history. “4,700 screaming, that’ll get you… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat on Women's Tennis
New work ethic fuels dazzling winning streak
The East Carolina women’s tennis players know that much of the Pirate Nation pays scant attention to what they are doing on the court, but if there was ever a time to rectify that situation, it’s now. ECU’s team has won 17 straight matches — the longest winning streak for any Pirates squad since the… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
Strong leaders fuel lofty hopes at ECU
Before my family moved to Eastern North Carolina two decades ago, I spent seven years in Cleveland County, NC, just a few miles from the campus of Gardner-Webb University. We spent time in the tiny burg of Boiling Springs, got to know GWU students and enjoyed an occasional cultural event on campus. The thing we… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
‘No Quarter’ approach working for ECU golfers
Football isn’t the only sport at East Carolina to lean into the idea of “No Quarter.” The men’s golf team has demonstrated the idea of getting stronger as time goes on not just in tournaments, but in the whole of its schedule as well. At the micro level, the Pirates dramatically saved their best rounds… [ More… ]
The Bradsher Beat
Women golfers power ahead after erratic start
If the East Carolina women’s golf season was a movie, the first half would depict a series of dire events, defeating the characters and making the viewers wonder how things could turn around by the time the credits roll. But in Hollywood and in golf, happy endings can arise from the unlikeliest of circumstances, and… [ More… ]