COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Georgia Southern track and field team competed in its second indoor meet Friday and Saturday after a seven-week break at the Gamecock Season Opener on the campus of the University of South Carolina and was again highlighted by two broken records by Merabu Nagwandala.
 
Nagwandala, a sophomore, broke the Georgia Southern indoor 5000m record in a third place effort with a time of 17:46.59. The Kampala, Uganda, native also broke her own indoor school record in the 3000m at 10:07.77 with a third-place finish.
 
Sprints: Scovia Ayikoru placed ninth in the 200m dash with a time of 24.55 and moved up to third all-time in the indoor record books. The Kampala, Uganda, product also placed 14^th in the 60m dash prelims with a time of 7.61 after earning an automatic pass to the round.
 
Middle/Hurdles: Ellunde Montgomery placed sixth in the 800m with a time of 2:18.14 as she nears a top-five indoor mark.
 
Distance: Nagwandala broke the school record in both the 3000m and 5000m with a bronze finish in both events. The Eagles took three of the top-10 finishes in the 5000m with Carley Braman taking sixth with a personal-record time of 18:37.69. The mark moves Braman into the No. 5 slot on the school's all-time indoor record list for the event. Mattie Harris placed ninth in her first collegiate try at the 5000m with a time of 19:00.00.  
 
Jumps: The Eagles only competed in one jumps event but fouled out of competition.    
 
Throws: Siddeeqa Abdurrahman led the way in the weight throw with a toss of 14.13m (46-4 ¼) finishing 11^th.
 
What head coach Kelly Carter had to say:
On the first meet in seven weeks
"Having competed last in December, the ladies came back in shape, ready to compete and it really showed. I'm pleased with where we're at and the hard work they are putting in, and I think it will show at indoor conference championships down the road."
On records and top finishers
"I think Merabu and Scovia are helping pave the way for some of the athletes, but everyone is really coming together as a team. I anticipate even more movement on our indoor and outdoor record lists this year."
On returning to the same location in two weeks
"We have to do what is doable. There are no indoor track facilities in the state of Georgia or Florida, and South Carolina just built theirs last year. Proximity dictates what we can really do for indoor track and field. Indoor tracks in our area are rare to come by."
 
 
Full results can be found here.
 
Up Next:
The team will enjoy a week of rest before returning to South Carolina for the Carolina Challenge Jan. 31-Feb. 1.