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Walker defends long jump title, Eagles in 5th after opening day
042013 SOCON TRACK 01
Georgia Southern's Brianna Charles, a junior from Atlanta, participates in the long jump during Saturday's Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Erk Russell Athletic Complex. Her teammate, Jasmin Walker, won the event for the second year in a row.

Georgia Southern sophomore Jasmin Walker defended her Southern Conference Outdoor Long Jump title Saturday with a mark of 5.82m (19’1.25”) and the Eagles earned 17 points in the event to carry them into the second day of competition. Freshmen Alyssa Felton finished fourth (5.62m/18’5.25”) and Ashleigh Rasheed seventh (5.36m/17’7”) to add to Walker’s winning total. Felton and Rasheed were named to the All-Freshman team for their efforts in the Long Jump while Kelsey Chandler earned All-Freshman honors in the Hammer Throw.

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. Jacobs’ sixth-place finish earned three more points for the Eagles on the first day. Seven individuals will represent Georgia Southern in 12 places in Sunday’s sprint and hurdle finals in addition to the 4X100m and 4X400m Relays.

“We always focus on getting back to the finals in our events,” said Georgia Southern Head Coach Marlo Mincey. “That is our goal and we need to make sure we are fresh and ready to go for tomorrow.”

After day one of the Southern Conference Championships, Georgia Southern is in fifth place. Defending champion Appalacahian State leads with 71.5 points with Elon in second with 54. Western Carolina (34.5), Samford (29) and Georgia Southern follow in the third through fifth positions. Furman 10, College of Charleston (8), Davidson (4), and Wofford (3) complete the list of scoring teams with The Citadel, UNCG and Chattanooga seeking their first points.

Samford leads on the Men’s side with 72 points after its number-three spot in the final power rankings coming into the championships. Last year’s champion Appalachian State is in second with 55.5 points and Western Carolina close behind at 51 points. Davidson 26.5 holds the fourth spot with The Citadel (13), Furman (11) and Chattanooga (5) completing the scoring for the men’s teams in fifth through seventh spots. UNCG and Wofford did not post points Saturday.

The final five events of the Decathlon begin with the 110m Hurdles at 8:30 a.m. and the last three events in the Heptathlon starting with the Long Jump. Individual events are set for a 12:30 p.m. start with the Men’s Discus, Women’s Shot Put, Men’s Triple Jump and Women’s High Jump finals. The 4X100m Relay kicks off running events Sunday at 1 p.m.  Live results for the final day of the championships are available at tinyurl.com/SoConTFSunday2013.

In the first running event of the day, senior Sara Curry set the University record in the 10,000m, taking 20 seconds off her previous record with time of 37:51.85. After four years on the cross country and track and field teams, this was Curry’s last collegiate race.

Freshman Ashleigh Rasheed completed the first four events of the Heptathlon and is currently in second place with the last three events Sunday. Rasheed tied for first in high jump, was second in the shot put and placed third in the 100m Hurdles with a sixth-place finish in the 200m Dash. Rasheed also scored two points in the individual High Jump.

“Ashleigh has the ability to focus and when she is on the runway for the Long Jump, she is focused on that, when she is in her lane for the Hurdles, she is focused on that,” Mincey said. “If we can get her to focus on each thing, she can achieve. She is a great athlete, I know what she is capable of and she is capable of more than what we have seen so far today. Her focus alone is conference championship mentality.”

Four Eagles, Ebony Carter, Jasmin Walker, Aarian Tipton and Alyssa Felton, will represent Georgia Southern in both the 100m and 200m Dash finals Sunday. Ebony Carter, the two-time defending champion in the 100m, had the top time for the Eagles in the preliminaries. Walker finished first for the Eagles in the 200m Dash preliminaries with her best time of 2013. With a personal best 56.55 in the 400m Dash, Kimberly Thomas qualified for finals in that event.

Dana Edwards leads Georgia Southern in both the 100m and 400m Hurdles events. With personal bests in both events on her home track Saturday, Edwards will have about an hour between events Sunday. Lauren Toomer joins Edwards in the 100m Hurdles finals after posting a personal best in the preliminaries.