ANDERSON, S.C. - On Friday (Jan. 29) the South Atlantic Conference released the men's and women's indoor track and field preseason polls for the upcoming season. The Anderson women's team was tabbed to finish eighth with the men coming in at 10th. Queens was picked as the overwhelming favorite for both the men and women.

With a limited number of meets on the indoor schedule, coach Kevin Eagle has been stressing a sense of urgency with his team. "With the circumstances going on with our season, we know we have very limited contests to compete in," said Eagle. "We want to take advantage of each of these and get as many athletes as we can to hit personal bests. They have all been working extremely hard over the last year to do so. All that we need now are opportunities to display this hard work!"

The first indoor meet of the season for both the men and women is the CIU Rams Invitational in Columbia, S.C. on Feb. 5 and Feb. 6. The Trojans then travel to Hickory, N.C. for the LR Polar Bear Meet on Feb. 14. Up next is the Camel City Invitational on Feb. 20 in Winston Salem, N.C., which is a qualifier only meet. The South Atlantic Conference indoor championships are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 27 in Winston Salem, N.C., with the NCAA National Championships set for Mar. 12 and Mar. 13 in Birmingham, AL.

"At this point, we are treating every meet as if it is our last," said Eagle. "Most of our athletes have not competed in an actual season in almost a year. After having the 2020 outdoor track season and the 2020 cross country seasons cancelled, we are ready to get back to normal competition. We as coaches simply need to make sure that each athlete is focused on their event and ready to go when they step foot on the track or in the throwing circle. We are excited that we also have a few athletes who have hit the qualifying standard to enter the Camel City Invitational on February 20th. For this competition, our athletes will be competing against some of the best in the country and will be looking to attain new lifetime personal bests."

There is plenty of reason for optimism surrounding the indoor track and field teams. Both the men and women will be returning key athletes from a year ago. The women are going to lean on Regan Appleby, Olivia Rish, Kamryn Osterbind, Katie Landry, Lauren Pernell, Hannah Beach, and Brianna Quartararo.

"All of these women scored points for us last indoor season, and we will need even more from them this year," said Eagle. "We have a lot of freshmen who should contribute right away as well, so we are excited to see what this women's team can put out there!"
For the men, Philip Quillen, Thomas Sutcliffe, Ben Clark, Daniel Similton, Matthew Burgess, and Cameron Owens-Hunter are some of the key returners. "These guys scored big points for us in past years at the SAC Championships and all are in line to do so again with the addition of a few more," said Eagle.