Photos by Dayne Francis | The Signal
After finishing fifth in the indoor championship and tying for second in the outdoor championship, the women’s track and field team remains hopeful for the new season. The Panthers began their journey to the 2016 Sun Belt championships on Dec. 4.
The championship meets keeps team scores as well as counts towards the Sun Belt overall sports championship, therefore more focus is put into these two events. Whereas the individual weekly meets are to focus on individual accomplishments as well as show room for improvement.
“Every meet along the way to those championships serves as a way for each individual to make themselves better, but seeking the team championships is what the season is all about,” head coach Chris England said in a Georgia State Communications press release.
Ravin Gilbert, Georgia State’s most valuable outdoor track performer, and LaPorscha Wells, Georgia State’s most valuable indoor field performer, will return for the 2015-16 season.
On Dec. 4 at the Birmingham Southern Invite ,located in Birmingham, Alabama, the Panthers kicked off the indoor season. This invitational provided the team with a point of view on where they stand as well as what they need to improve on as the season progresses.
Georgia State finished with a second-place success in shot put, two third place results, a fourth place in the distance medley and two fifth place achievements.
Georgia State has a total of three meets at the Birmingham Complex. This is where the Sun Belt Indoor Championships will take place on Feb. 22-23. The Panthers placed fifth in the indoor championships last year with a score of 82.5. Just four and a half points behind of Texas-Arlington, who came in at fourth place and eight points behind UL Lafayette, who placed third.
“The Indoor Season gives us three meets at the Birmingham Complex to prepare for where the Sun Belt Championships are held, so we hope to take advantage of being familiar with that facility,” Coach England said in the communications press release.
Conference member, Arkansas State, possess high ranking members who are top indoor performers in the Sun Belt 2015-16 season so far. Kristina Knott and De’Airis Weakly rank number one and three, respectively in the 60m. Georgia State’s Gilbert ranks number two. Knott and Weakly go on to rank number one and two in the 200m. Gilbert ranks number three in this category. Erin Farmer, Arkansas State team member, ranks number one in shot put while Wells follows at second. This makes Arkansas State one team to lookout for in the championship.
Georgia state, Arkansas State, Appalachian State and Texas-Arlington lead with the most top performers. Texas-Arlington currently ranks number one in the 4 x 400 relay and Georgia State comes in at number two.
The team had a little over a month break before they moved on to the next invite on Jan. 8-9 which was located in Johnson City, Tennessee. This is the East Tennessee State Invite where the Panthers faced Alabama State, Carson Newman, East Tennessee State University, Kennesaw State, Western Carolina, and Sun Belt conference member Appalachian State.
Photo by Dayne Francis | The Signal
Finishing the two day invitational Georgia State closed with five first place results, three seconds, five thirds, four fourths, and three fifths outcomes. Along with these accomplishments top performer Gilbert placed first in the 60m dash. Wells also dominated winning the shot put as well as the weight throwing events.
The Panthers will return to action in Jonesboro, Arkansas on Jan. 23 to participate in the Arkansas State Invite. Following this invitational the team will continue to follow the schedule respectively. Traveling to states such as Florida, Louisiana, and West Virginia.
The outdoor season kicks off on March 12 in Jacksonville, Alabama at the Jacksonville State Invite.
The Auburn Invitational will follow shortly after in Auburn, Alabama on April 8-9. Georgia State will also travel to Athens, Georgia to attend the Georgia Invite on April 30. The first event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
The Florida Relays will be hosted in Gainesville, Florida on April 1-2. The Panthers will face conference member and rival Georgia Southern at this relay. Although this relay focuses on individual success, both teams are striving to perform at a high level. With hopes that one will succeed over the other in the Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
The Georgia State and Georgia Southern rivalry is well known across both schools. This rivalry created the Georgia state-Georgia Southern rivalry series which includes the 15 sports that the schools challenge each other. Whichever team wins the most competitions will receive the annual trophy. The most recent match-up was the highly anticipated football game where the Panthers won 34-7 and gained a point in the series.
With the Sun Belt Championship having two championships, an indoor and outdoor, two championships will be crowned. If Georgia State can place above Georgia Southern in both championships the Panthers will gain two rivalry points.
Georgia State currently leads Georgia Southern in several events, one being the 5000m. The top three performers are Stephanie Berger, Samantha Donovan and Jordan Townsley who are all Panthers. Georgia Southern’s team member, Rebecca Parker, ranks fourth.
The Sun Belt Outdoor Championship will take place in Lafayette, Louisiana on May 13-15. Arkansas State came in first place in the 2015 Outdoor Championship with a total of 138 points. After tying for second place with Texas State at 129 points, the Panthers hope to improve their performance this season.
