Track & Field/XC | 5/15/2016 10:20:00 PM
Final Results | Day One Results | Day Two Results | Day Three Results
LAFAYETTE, La.—Closing out the day on Sunday, the Georgia Southern track and field team capped off the outdoor season at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships in Lafayette, Louisiana placing eleventh in the conference. Leading the team, sophomore
Bailey Willett and freshman
Jillian Sloane placed in the 800 meter run to represent the Blue and White.
"Today was fun; you never know what you're going to run into at a conference championships, but our girls stepped up to the meet the challenge," head coach
Kelly Carter said. "We had some strong performances by upperclassman as well as promising showings by the newcomers."
On Saturday, the Eagles duo placed in fifth and sixth respectively in the preliminaries to move onto the finals on Sunday, ending in the same spots. Willett clocked in at a speedy 2:12.76 on Saturday which served as a career-best for the sophomore, while Sloane's 2:13.13 time bested her previous record of 2:14.78 at the Lowcountry Collegiate. With their top finishes, Willett picked up four points for the team and Sloane picked up three. Throughout the season, the two have placed in the top 10 in the 800m a combined number of seven times (Willett 4, Sloane 3).
Rebecca Parker finished in ninth in the 3000m steeplechase, the event she set a new Georgia Southern record in earlier this season, coming in at 11:28.77. In addition, she came in first on the team in the 5000m race and placed in 17
th overall.
Tatiyana Rayford narrowly missed the mark to compete in the finals, as she placed ninth in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.23 seconds; however only the top eight advanced. Also competing for the Eagles,
Mecca Day placed 14
th in the 400 meter hurdles,
Twandalette Cotton finished in 14
th in the high jump,
Nia Hill captured 18
th in the long jump,
Ashleigh Rasheed took 13
th in the triple jump and
Desiree Blunt came in 14
th in the 100 meter dash and 13
th in the 200 meter dash.
Asha Stegall and Breanna Thorton came in milliseconds apart from each other in the 400 meter to take 18
th and 19
th respectively.
For throws,
Kelsey Arnold earned 12
th place in the hammer throw with a 44.84 meter throw. Earlier this season, she surpassed her previous school record with a 51.76 meter throw at the UNF Spring Break Invitational. In shot put,
Jamelia Owens, Arnold and
Alexis Gant placed in order of ninth, 10
th and 11
th.
"It was a joy to coach the women this year, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this program," Carter added.
