The Georgia Southern track and field team looks to finish strong in outdoor, after placing 12th at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships.

The Eagles placed 12th at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships in Birmingham February 19-20, 2018. With a total of 10 points in competition, almost half of the production came from junior, Jamelia Owens with four points in the throws event.

The other six points came from the Eagles’ effort in the distance relay. The relay team placed third with a total of six points.

Moving to the outdoor season, head coach Kelly Carter believes the team has been making progress thus far.

“We made a lot of progress, we are now transitioning from indoor to outdoor and so the races get a little bit longer,” Carter said. “You have to deal with the elements more and so I think we are in a really positive place and I expect some good turnouts.”

With the progress the team has made so far as a whole, junior Tatiyana Rayford feels the Eagles are performing better than the previous season.

“I feel like we are doing ok, better than the previous season. We did lose a few freshmen, so it is kind of rocky, it’s not many people because a lot of people are hurt,” Rayford said. “But the people that are healthy, I think they are doing what they need to do.”

Despite the injuries that have occurred this season, the Eagles have been able to both break and challenge records, here at Georgia Southern.

“We broke the DMR (Distance Medley Relay), the mile record was broken, the 5,000 meter dash was challenged,” Carter said. “In our throws section, we had a school record in shot put went down.”

The remainder of the season poses a challenge for the Eagles, but junior Desiree Blunt is optimistic the team is moving in the right direction.

“For the rest of the remaining season, I feel like we are off to a good start for our outdoor,” Blunt said. “People have PR’d (scored personal records) so far.”

Because the team has broken certain personal and school records, as well as challenge a few school records, the Eagles feel they can succeed in the 2018 outdoor season.

When asked what the approach will be for the remainder of the season, Carter replied, “You just take it day by day; you never know who is going to be at a track meet. We’ve scheduled to go to a couple of different meets, some of them are power 5 schools in South Carolina and Auburn, but at those meets you get a variety of different schools from a power 5 to NAIA, to Division II, to Division III schools.”

Carter then added, “So, it’s a good mix of divisions of track & field, so our athletes get a chance to see where they stack up all across the country.”

The next meet for the Eagles will take place in Columbia, South Carolina at the Weems Baskin, beginning on Friday March 23.