Georgia Southern University’s senior sprinter Ebony Carter holds six of the fastest times in GSU history in events such as the 60-meter dash, 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash (indoor and outdoor).

“She’s a competitor, which is definitely something you need in a short sprinter,” head coach Marlo Mincey said. “She doesn’t get down on herself really easily.”

Carter’s competitiveness began back in Rome, Ga. amongst her five brothers and two sisters.

“We’re all pretty competitive,” Carter said.

Carter and her brother, Devon, would always share advice on how they could improve in their respective sports.

“He would say, ‘you’ll win your race if you do this,’” Carter said.

Carter attended high school at Darlington School where she broke the school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.24 seconds.

“That was my greatest accomplishment. I was really happy about that,” Carter said.

In addition to running track in high school, Carter was a shooting guard on the school’s basketball team.

“I wasn’t as good in basketball as I am in track, but I would say I was decent,” Carter said.

Although she never made any game-winning shots or scored 40-plus in a game, Carter said her greatest accomplishment as a basketball player was just being a leader on the team.

“Some of the girls would look up to me, even though I wasn’t that good,” Carter said.

Carter decided it would be best to focus her energy on track as she entered college.

“You have to really love this sport when you come to college. You have to know what you’re getting into,” Carter said.

The sharp increase in the expectations and competition level from high school athletics to college athletics stunned her.

“Coming from high school, I thought I was the best, but once I came to college my freshman year, there were way more girls faster than me,” Carter said.

Carter just looked at the competition as an indicator of where she needed to be and continued to train in order to improve.

On days when she may need extra motivation, she turns to her mother who has been her biggest supporter.

“I talk to my mom every day, and she just helps me get through it,” Carter said.

Now as a senior, Carter feels like a positive mental approach is the key to success on and off the track.

Carter said, “I improved in my mentality. You can’t go out here with a bad attitude and think that you’re going to do well.”