Piazza and Purrier Set for Indoor Track NCAA Championships (March 11-12)

DURHAM, N.H. - Junior Drew Piazza (Danvers, Mass.) and sophomore Elinor Purrier (Montgomery, Vt.) of the University of New Hampshire men's and women's track & field teams are set to compete at the 2016 NCAA Divison I Indoor Track & Field Championships at Birmingham, Ala. in the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Purrier holds the top collegiate time in the mile run and the eighth fastest mark all-time, seeded first with a time of 4:29.71. Purrier broke the school record in the 3,000-meter (9:29.29), 1,000-meter (2:46.02), distance medley relay (11:28.56) and the mile races this season. Piazza set the school record in the 800-meter and the 1,000-meter (2:21.97) races this season, seeded 10th in the 800- with a time of 1:47.28.

Purrier began her championship form during her freshman indoor season when she competed in the mile and finished 15^th overall with a time of 4:48.82. Her improvement only went up from there, competing at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for an All-American time of 9:53.69 for seventh overall.

Piazza looks to compete in the first NCAA championships of his career. The junior has improved from last season, when he won the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America 800-meter run with a time of 1:47.60. Piazza bested that time with a 1:47.28 mark to rank 10^th in the country in the 800-meter run this year.

At the conference championships, the two of them combined for four conference championships. Purrier won the mile (4:55.38) and the DMR (11:28.56) while Piazza claimed gold in the mile (4:10.25) and the DMR (9:54.48). Piazza also won a New England championship in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:49.52.

ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 11 starting at 6:25 p.m. Eastern time and March 12 starting at 4:55 p.m. Eastern time. A re-air of the championship will take place on Sunday, March 13 starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN2 and also Wednesday, March 23 starting at 10 p.m. Eastern time on ESPNU.

For the most up-to-date information on the women's track & field team, visit UNHWildcats.com. Text UNH to 90561 to sign up for Sports alerts. Message & Data Rates May Apply. 1 message/text. Consent to receive a text message is not a condition of purchasing goods or services. Text HELP to 90561 for info. STOP to cancel. T&Cs & Privacy Policy is available HERE. Click HERE to sign up for newsletters on your favorite sports.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results