Pierre shatters school record at St. Valentine Invitational

Senior Kevon Pierre shattered the school record in the 200 meters in one of several outstanding performances by the FIU men’s and women’s track & field teams at Boston University’s St. Valentine Invitational over the weekend.

Pierre placed third in the 200 and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in 21.42 seconds, breaking the school record of 21.78 seconds that he set just three weeks ago at the same track. It is his third-straight top-five finish in the event.

Pierre also beat out a field of 63 athletes to win the 55 meters in 6.34 seconds – just .05 seconds off the school record he set in Boston in FIU’s last meet there. The lightening-quick senior is undefeated in the 55 this season.

Junior Elisa Dieme-Erlich led the No. 21 FIU women’s track & field team, finishing first among collegians with a team- and season-best mark of 19 feet, 6-1/4 inches in the long jump. The junior transfer, competing in her first season with the Golden Panthers, also finished runner-up among collegians in her season debut in the triple jump with a 39-foot, 7-inch performance.

Junior Sonnii McBride, who advanced to the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Regional Championships, won the 400 meters in a season-best 55.27 seconds.

Top-10 finishes on the men’s side came from junior Yandiel Muniz, who placed eighth among collegians in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches. Freshman Michael Weber finished eighth among collegians in the pole vault with a 14-foot, 6-inch performance.

The men’s and women’s track & field teams now head into the postseason at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at Arkansas State on Sun.-Mon., Feb. 27-28.