Cross Country Keeps Improving

Robert George

The Georgia Southern Eagles Cross Country Team is getting ready for their fourth competition of the 2015 season. The Eagles will head south to Orlando, Florida for the Disney Cross Country Classic. They have previously competed at meets in Macon, Columbia, South Carolina, and Oxford, Alabama.

“We went last year and competed fairly well,” head coach Kelly Carter said about the Disney Classic. “I am so proud that they’re gonna get another opportunity to show what they can do, and Disney is a great venue to do it.”

The Eagles ran well at the first two meets and earned a pair of third place finishes in both events. Most recently, at the Foothills Invitational, they posted an impressive fifth place considering the hilly course was soaked with rain. Coach Carter is proud of how the girls have been running, and applauds their commitment to getting better.

“Our young ladies have been getting better and better every week,” he said. “They’ve been competing so hard, believing in themselves, believing in the training, believing in the coaching staff, representing well for Georgia Southern.”

In addition to the race this weekend, the team has another meet scheduled in Charleston, South Carolina next weekend to prepare for the ultimate test. The Sun Belt Championships, which is held in Atlanta, is the race where the team wants to perform at its best. Qualifying at the Sun Belt Championships will allow them to compete in the NCAA Regionals, which hosted in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Rebecca Parker has been a consistent runner for the Eagles this season. She was the Eagle’s top finisher at the Foothills Invitational, and she placed third overall at the Julius Johnson Invitational at Mercer University. Coach Carter is pleased with the entire team’s performance on the season, and is looking forward to watching them improve as they head towards the Sun Belt Championships

“We always start out the year wanting to win a championship. Our main focus this year was making sure we got a team together that would work together as a team and would progress and get better,” he said. “It’s comforting to know that you can watch a group of young ladies set a goal and go out there and reach it.”