Track and Field Looks for Continued Improvement
4/8/2011 9:17:00 PM
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Seminole Invite at Florida State this weekend provides the Georgia Southern Track and Field team with one of its final two meets of the regular season. Georgia Southern joins Auburn, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Fort Valley State, Georgia Tech and Samford as teams competing in Tallahassee, Fla. The Seminoles were eighth in the most recent national rankings with the Tigers checking in at 12th. The Eagles last competed at Florida State's Mike Long Track for the NCAA Regionals in 2008.
"This should be a good weekend for us as we close in on our last two regular season meets before the conference championships," said Eagles Track and Field Coach Natalie Smith. "The field is strong and with a great facility and weather forecast, we are looking forward to some great performances from our team."
Steady improvement during the outdoor season is priming the Eagles for the Southern Conference Championships later this month in Birmingham, Ala., at Samford's Seibert Stadium.
Georgia Southern's 4x100 meter Relay team of Jasmine Billings (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Ebony Carter (Rome, Ga.), Amber Vaughn (Decatur, Ga.) and Kwajelin Holsendolph (Hinesville, Ga.) recorded the best time of the 2011 outdoor season (46.93) last weekend at the Pepsi Florida Relays. Those four individuals will also compete in the 100 meter Dash.
Carter, who currently ranks in the top three in the Southern Conference in both the 100 and 200 meter Dash events, is slated to race in the 200 meter event. The Eagles also have three of the top five SoCon times in the 100 meter Hurdles. Billings, Holsendolph and Stephanie Hicks (Trenton, N.J.) will race for Georgia Southern in that event.
Making a push in the 400 meters will be Morgan Jefferson (Villa Rica, Ga.) and Kristiana Towns (Decatur, Ga.), Ray Toomer (Savannah, Ga.), Dana Edwards (Athens, Ga.) and Azura Robillard (Atlamonte Springs, Fla.) are slotted in the same section of the 400 meter Hurdles and compete against a field of 15 others.
Georgia Southern has three of the top five distances in the SoCon Long Jump rankings. Millicent Brooks-Millender (Douglasville, Ga.), Brianna Charles (Lithonia, Ga.), Shaunta Hamilton (Macon, Ga.), Hicks and Amber Vaughn (Macon, Ga.) represent Georgia Southern in that event this weekend. In the High Jump, junior Alex Cassagnol (Augusta, Ga.), with a top-three height in the SoCon rankings, attempts to top her personal best set at the UCF Invitational (5'6") at the end of March.
In addition to competing in the 400 meter Hurdles and as a member of the 4X400 Relay, Robillard will also throw the javelin. She looks to improve on her season-best throw of 104'5" set last month at the Shamrock Invitational.
More information on Georgia Southern Track and Field can be found at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/track&field. Short updates are available at twitter.com/GSAthletics or facebook.com/GSAthletics.
