ETSU looks to continue to progress leading up to Atlantic Sun Championship in two weeks

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Feb. 6, 2014) – The ETSU men’s and women’s track & field teams will continue their preparations for the upcoming Atlantic Sun Championship by participating in the Samford Multi & Invitational, Feb 7 – 8, inside the Birmingham Crossplex.

Competition will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Friday with the men’s and women’s weight throw, and will end with the men’s distance medley relay final around 9 p.m. Action will pick back up on Saturday morning with heptathlon events, the men’s and women’s long jump and the men’s 60 meter hurdle prelims at 9 a.m. Competition at the Samford Multi & Invitational will conclude with the men’s and women’s 4x400 meter relay which is set to launch at 5:40 p.m.

“This meet is our final competition before the conference championship,” said ETSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country George Watts. “I'm looking for continued improvement and a sense of urgency from both teams as we attempt to elevate our performance to a new level.”

The Buccaneers have a quick turnaround this weekend after competing at the Hilton Garden Invitational last weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C. At the Invite, on day one, the Blue & Gold notched five total top-three finishes including junior Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic) taking the top spot in the women’s pole vault with an ETSU indoor school record launch of 3.80 meters.

On day two in Winston-Salem, the Bucs again placed in the top-three in five total events including Simeon Roberts (Greeneville, Tenn.) placing first in the men’s mile run with a collegiate-high time of 4:15.43. In the women’s 60 meter hurdle prelims, Dede Edgecombe (Spartanburg, S.C.) placed runner-up with a collegiate-best tying 8.51 time in the event final. This time tied the ETSU women’s 60 meter indoor record that Edgecombe had previously set.

ETSU will look to perform its best this weekend with the conference meet in its sights.

“I'm not interested in an average effort, and the majority of the team understands that,” said Watts. “We are still learning the importance of doing the little things right in order to perform at our best. I look forward to seeing how the teams respond this weekend.”

Meet information and live results for the Samford Multi & Invitational can be accessed by visiting TimingInc.com. Complete recaps of ETSU’s performance each day will be available at ETSUBucs.com.

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