BOONE, N.C. (Dec. 4, 2004) - The East Tennessee State track and field team kicked off the 2004-05 indoor season with the Appalachian Invitational. The Buccaneers had a strong showing placing in the top three in eight events including two wins.

The wins for ETSU came on the women's side from ETSU's A team in the distance medley relay and freshman MacKenzie Labonte (Port Charlotte, Fla.) in the 3,000 meter run.

Senior Nichola Cornish (Spartanburg, S.C.) and newcomer Ebonie Jones (Richmond, Va.) also had powerful performances for the Bucs. Cornish took third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.09, while Jones in her first meet as a Buccaneer placed second in the long jump with a mark of 5.65m.

On the men's side, junior sprinter James Rainer (Alcoa, Tenn.) recorded a personal best in the 55-meter dash at 6.30. Sophomore Johnny Tucker (Spartanburg, S.C), who also competed in the event, finished with a time of 6.51.

In the distance races, Joshua Hicks (Limestone, Tenn.) finished third in the 800 meters with a time of 1:59.76 and Jordan Ladd (Lyn, Ontario) finished third in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:12.25.

Michael Estes (Maryville, Tenn.) in his debut as a Buccaneer took second in the high jump with a mark of 1.93m.

"Hopefully this meet will be a good building block for us for the rest of the season. Coach Walker and I feel we, as a team, are headed in the right direction. Many of the freshmen stepped up for us, and overall we had a solid performance," commented assistant coach Michelle Byrne. "The meet was a good measure of where we are heading into the break and what we need to work on for our next meet."

The next meet of the indoor season for the ETSU track and field team will be at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. from Jan. 14-15.