VIDEO: SoCon Highlights -- Day Two
VIDEO: Kimberly Thomas">4X400m Relay anchor Kimberly Thomas
VIDEO: Jasmin Walker">4X100m Relay lead leg and Long Jump champion Jasmin Walker
VIDEO: Ashleigh Rasheed">Multi-event athlete/freshman Ashleigh Rasheed
VIDEO: Head Coach Marlo Mincey
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Head Track & Field Coach Marlo Mincey told her team all season that where the Eagles placed in the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships would come down to the 4X400m Relay, and did it ever. Going into the final event of the weekend in fifth place with 104.5 points behind Elon (108) and Samford (106), the Eagle 4X400m Relay team of Dana Edwards, Aliya Parker, Amber Vaughn and Kimberly Thomas took second to put propel the Eagles from fifth place to third overall. Georgia Southern finished with 112.5 points ahead of Elon with 111 and Samford with 110.
"I knew it was going to come down to the 4X400, I said that all year, how the 4X400m prepared was going to be the difference in how we finished in the championships," said Georgia Southern Head Coach Marlo Mincey. "We are always going to do we what we always do and we didn't have a big conversation about it beforehand. I knew that they had to come out and be in the top two in the 4X400, I am not sure that they knew that, but we are always racing to win. That is always the plan, so I didn't have to talk about it, being in the top two was just understood."
Western Carolina captured both the Men's and Women's 2013 Women's Southern Conference Outdoor titles with the Catamount Women scoring 197.50 points to Appalachian State's second place with 159.50 points. Furman and College of Charleston tied for sixth with 32 points each ahead of The Citadel in eighth (23.5) and Wofford in ninth (13). UNCG and Chattanooga tied for 10place with Davidson at 12th (4).
Danny Williamson of Western Carolina was named the Women's Coach of the Year with Ashley Cope of Samford earning Most Outstanding Athlete honors for wins in the Heptathlon, 100m Hurdles and Pole Vault. Furman's Sinead Haughey won both the 5,000m and 10,000m Run events for Most Outstanding Track Performer and Alisha Bradshaw of Western Carolina, who broke the SoCon Discus record and won the Shot Put, was honored as Most Outstanding Field Performer.
The Catamount Men topped the list with 222.5 points to Samford's 209. Appalachian State finished in third with 183.5 points and Davidson placed a distant fourth with 70.5. The Citadel took fifth with 55 points ahead of Furman (38), Chattanooga (25), UNCG (11) and Wofford (4.5).
Samford Coach Rod Tiffin, who won SoCon Indoor Coach of the Year honors earlier this year, accepted the Outdoor Coach of the Year honors Sunday. Ben Davies of Samford won the Most Outstanding Athlete award with teammate Brandon Hazouri winning Freshman of the Year honors. Brandon Hairston of Western Carolina won two individual titles and was a member of both Catamount title relay teams to claim the 2013 Most Valuable Track Performer honor. Appalachian State's Jared Stalling was named the Most Valuable Field Performer.
Seven Men's and nine Women's facility records were broken this weekend at the Eagle Track and Field Complex at Erk Russell Athletic Park as Georgia Southern played host to its third Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Ten Eagles brought in 14 All-Southern Conference awards with 11 All-Freshman honors. All-Conference accolades are based on the top-three finishers in each event, including relay participants and the All-Freshman honors are for the top three freshmen in each event. Â Sophomore Jasmin Walker defended her outdoor Long Jump title, winning that event Saturday with a mark of 5.82m (19'1.25") and freshmen Alyssa Felton and Ashleigh Rasheed helped the Eagles score a total of 17 points in that event. With a personal-best distance of 48.20m (158'2") in the Hammer Throw, Alexis Jacobs entered Georgia Southern's top-five list at the number three spot and she earned three more points for the Eagles on the first day.
Freshman Ashleigh Rasheed ran a purposeful 800m in the final event of the Heptathlon to move to second place in the event, scoring eight points for the Eagles in the first final on Sunday. Rasheed, competing in her first Heptathlon, was the only student-athlete to score 700 or more points in at least four of the seven events and she finished with 4.384 points. Rasheed also scored five points in the Triple Jump with a personal best 11.82m (39'5"), her ninth event of the weekend.
Georgia Southern's 4X100m Relay team set the facility record Sunday and won the event with a time of 45.46, just .01 seconds shy of the SoCon record. The time set by Walker, Ebony Carter, Felton and Amber Vaughn replaced a 2003 time as the second best in Georgia Southern history. An hour after the relay win, Carter, Felton and Walker would compete in the 100m Dash Finals with Carter earning all-Southern Conference honors with her third-place finish. The trio, with freshman Aarian Tipton, scored 15 points for the Eagles in this sprint with Felton (4th), Walker (6th) and Tipton (8th). The same group would add 14 more points in the 200m Dash final Sunday with Carter in the lead in third, Felton (5th), Walker (6th) and Tipton (8th).
Key points for Georgia Southern came from big performances in the Field events. Three Eagles placed in the Discus for 12 points with junior Aishya Wofford taking second with a throw of 44.19m (145') for eight points. Kelsey Chandler posted a personal-best 40.81m (133'11") effort and picked up three points for her sixth-place finish and Alexis Jacobs finished out the scoring with her personal best (38.90m/127'7") and a point for eighth.
With a personal best 1.67m in the High Jump, freshman Keyanna Harris placed third with the top mark of the season to earn a spot on Georgia Southern's all-time list. Personal bests in the Shot Put put more five points in Georgia Southern's column as Jacobs added three points, finishing in sixth at 13.35m (43'9.75") with Wofford scoring two more in that event with a 13.05m (42'9.75"). Jacobs also had three points in the Hammer Throw, with a personal best 48.20m (158'2.0"), 5.25m higher than her previous distance.
Dana Edwards put her name in Georgia Southern's top five for the 400m Hurdles with a personal record 1:02.83 to capture fourth place in the event. Edwards and Lauren Toomer took seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 100m Hurdles earlier on Sunday for three more critical points.
The final event, the 4X400m, saw Georgia Southern put together its fastest time of the season after some modifications in the lineup throughout the outdoor season. Thomas, at anchor, crossed the finish line 0.26 seconds ahead of Appalachian State for the second-place finish in the event and third-place finish overall.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
All-Southern Conference
Long Jump
Jasmin Walker, Georgia Southern (5.82m; 19'1.25")
4x100m
Georgia Southern
Jasmin Walker, Ebony Carter, Alyssa Felton, Amber Vaughn
Heptathlon
Ashleigh Rasheed, Georgia Southern (4384 points)
100m
Ebony Carter, Georgia Southern (11.75)
High Jump
Keyanna Harris, Georgia Southern (1.67m; 5'5.75")
200m
Ebony Carter, Georgia Southern (24.67)
Discus
Aishya Wofford, Georgia Southern (44.19m; 145')
4x400m
Georgia Southern
Dana Edwards, Aliya Parker, Amber Vaughn, Kimberly Thomas
All-Freshman
Long Jump
Alyssa Felton, Georgia Southern (5.62m; 18'5.25")
Ashleigh Rasheed, Georgia Southern (5.36m; 17'7")
Hammer
Kelsey Chandler, Georgia Southern (46.55m; 152'9")
Heptathlon
Ashleigh Rasheed, Georgia Southern (4384 points)
100m
Alyssa Felton, Georgia Southern (12.07)
High Jump
Keyanna Harris, Georgia Southern (1.67m; 5'5.75")
200m
Alyssa Felton, Georgia Southern (25.05)
Aliya Parker, Georgia Southern (25.25)
Shot Put
Camryn Coleman, Georgia Southern (9.91m; 32' 6.25")
Discus
Kelsey Chandler, Georgia Southern (40.81m; 133' 11")
Triple Jump
Ashleigh Rasheed, Georgia Southern (11.82m; 38' 9.5")
