JACKSONVILLE, FL- The Winthrop Eagles continued their record breaking ways as they moved from the confines of indoor track to the sunny wide open venues of outdoor track.
Led by five individual victories and another three school records, the Eagle men and women garnered no fewer than 12 top three performances in the 10-team meet on the campus of the University of North Florida.
"It is pleasing to see us continue the success we had from last week's indoor championships," said head coach Ben Paxton. "Breaking school records means this team is performing at a top level. I am excited about the next month and a half. We left some talent at home and when we are all together this could be a rocking team."
Faced with a stiff north wind, cool weather and teams like Florida State and Mississippi State, The Eagles where led again by Junior Sasha Robinson.
Robinson shattered her own school record for the second week in a row winning the 400 meter dash. The time of 56.10 seconds eclipses the old record that she set three years ago. Robinson was then joined by Amami Antia Obong, Latasha Watson and Monique James to eclipse the 4 x 400 meter record set for the second week in a row.
Winthrop's top throwers, Jared Baird and Ashley Howard did not disappoint as well. Baird, one of the top throwers in the east struggled with the windy conditions but managed a sizable victory in the javelin with a toss of 204-feet, three-inches. Howard also destroyed the field with a heave of 154-feet, 9-inches in the discus. Joining the Eagles on the victory podium were sophomore Dexter Young, last week's All- Big South indoor selection, with a leap of 6--feet, 7-inches in the high jumps and freshman AJ Fitzsimmons who ran 9:39.47 in his first ever attempt at the 3000 meter steeplechase.
When not winning, the Eagles where right there all day with top performances and a host of school records. Adding to the 4 x 400 meter relay record and Robinson's 400m was a school record and 5th place finish of 11 feet in the pole vault by sophomore Tara Bowman. Below is the list of the 13 top three performances this past weekend. The Eagles will be off this week as they will return early from spring break to compete in the UNCC Invitational in Charlotte on March 19-20.
