WASHINGTON – After an indoor season full of school records and top-10 times, the track team hopes to build on their momentum in the outdoor season. The team will compete in meets ranging from North Carolina to Pennsylvania before the Patriot League Championships hosted by Holy Cross (May 2-3) and the NCAA East Regional at the University of North Florida (May 28-31).

The Eagles will compete almost every weekend this season. They'll open their season at the Richmond Fred Hardy Invitational on Friday (Mar. 21), where most of the squad will compete. A small group will head south for the Raleigh Relays hosted by NC State (Mar. 27-29) to race against top national competition.

The regular season will include two more meets in Virginia. They'll head to neighbor George Mason for the Dalton Ebanks Invitational (Apr. 4-5). After a bye week, they'll return to Virginia for the Virginia Challenge (Apr. 18-19) hosted by the University of Virginia. The Eagles will then bring a group of relay squads to compete at Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn. (Apr. 24-26).

The team will shift their focus to the postseason in May, beginning at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships at Holy Cross on Saturday, May 2-Sunday, May 3. The squad will return to George Mason for the  ECAC/IC4A Outdoor Track Championships (May 16-18).

Any athletes whose performances rank in the top 48 in the East Region will close out their season at the NCAA East Preliminary (May 28-31) hosted by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. to contend for spots at the NCAA Championships.

The Eagles had a phenomenal indoor track season. The team broke a total of 13 school records, clocked 56 new AU top-10 times, and ran more and 120 personal bests. Sophomore Lorelei Bangit broke her own school record in the 400 meters twice and 200 meters three times, earning a silver medal at the Patriot League Indoor Championships (Mar. 2) in the 400. Freshman Tamara Dorval made her mark on the program right away, lowering the school record in the 60 meters four times throughout the season and earning a fifth-place finish at Patriot Leagues. The women's sprint squad rewrote the record book for the 200 meters at the Patriot League Championships, adding six new marks to the top-10 list in the prelims of the event. Freshmen Zoe Clark and Lara Gin started their collegiate careers strong with top-10 times in both the 200 and 400. The women's 4x400 also ran the top three marks in AU history this season, breaking four minutes for the first time with a new record of 3:56.03 at the George Mason Patriot Games (Feb. 1).

On the mid-distance side, junior Kaden Kluth became AU's first four-minute miler, running a seven-second PR of 4:00.60 at the Valentine Invitational (Feb. 14). Junior Carver Morgan ran 1:49.37, the second-best 800 in school history, to earn a gold medal at the Patriot League Championships (Mar. 2). On the women's side, six Eagles added their names to the top-10 list in the 800, led by junior Kate Riley, who PRed by a total of almost five seconds throughout the season and ran 2:15.00 at the Valentine Invitational. Freshman Catherine Hany also PRed by five seconds in the 800 this season, winning the George Mason Father Diamond Invitational (Feb. 21) in 2:19.05.

Eight distance men ran personal bests in the 3k this season, including five freshmen. Cooper Michaud led the squad with a PR of 8:20.26 at the Valentine Invitational. Freshmen Noah Smith and Ty Parker stood out with PRs of 8:21.53 and 8:23.29, respectively. Seven Eagles ran personal bests in the mile, including Morgan, whose PR of 4:06.37 at the Valentine Invitational ranks fourth all-time. On the women's side, junior Sophia Staiger opened the season with a 37-second personal best of 17:50.69 in the 5k, ranking ninth all-time. She also ran personal bests in the 3k and mile this season. Grad student Bryn Underwood, coming off a successful field hockey career at AU, made her mark in the 3k with a 10th all-time PR of 10:08.23.

For the latest on the Eagles Cross Country and Track teams, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the squad on Instagram (@AU_TrackXC) and Twitter (@AU_TrackXC).