WASHINGTON – Hoping to build off a historic indoor track season, the track team is gearing up for the outdoor season. The team will spend most of its season competing in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. in preparation for the Patriot League Championships hosted by Navy (May 15-16), the NCAA East First Round, and the NCAA Championships.

The Eagles have at least one meet on the calendar every weekend until May 2. Similar to last year, most of the team will open at the Richmond Fred Hardy Invitational on Friday, Mar.  20, while a select squad will travel to North Carolina for the Raleigh Relays hosted by NC State on Mar. 26-28.

American's next two meets will be close to home. The team will travel to nearby George Mason for the Dalton Ebanks Invitational on Apr. 3-4, then stay in D.C. the following weekend to compete at the Bison Classic hosted by Gallaudet on Apr. 11.

The team will branch out further the following two weekends. On Apr. 17-18, the full team will compete at the Virginia Challenge hosted by UVA. The following weekend, American will send relay squads to compete at the Penn Relays on Apr. 23-25. The Eagles will have two extra opportunities to compete before the conference championships this season due to the Patriot League moving the meet back two weeks. They will compete at the Virginia High Performance/Dogwood Track Classic at UVA on Apr. 30-May 2 and the University of Maryland's Kehoe Twilight Classic on May 1-2.

After these meets, the Eagles will begin the postseason with the Patriot League Championships at Navy on May 15-16. Any athletes whose performances rank in the top 48 in the East Region will compete at the NCAA East First Round (May 28-31) hosted by the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., to contend for spots at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. Those who meet the qualifying standards will compete at the USATF Outdoor Championships in New York City on July 23-26.

The Eagles had a historic indoor track season, setting a total of seven program records, 51 top-10 times, and 84 personal bests. Senior Carver Morgan broke AU's 800-meter record four times, capping off the season with his third consecutive Patriot League 800 title in a meet record of 1:46.97. Morgan was named Patriot League Track Athlete of the Meet, the first Eagle to win the honor since 2004. Kaden Kluth broke the program's 1,000-meter record by almost five seconds and lowered his own record in the mile. Morgan and Kluth, as well as freshmen Emmett Engelhardt and Gregory Celariste, took the Eagles' first Patriot League distance medley relay title since 2008 in a meet record of 9:49.59.

In men's distance, freshman Daniel Messer PRed in every race this season, knocking a total of 30 seconds off his 3k PR and 43 seconds off in the 5k. Senior Cooper Michaud put points on the board at the Patriot League Championships with a seventh-place finish, running a 16-second PR and fourth AU all-time performance of 14:20.86. Freshman Emmett Engelhardt ran PRs in the 1k, 800, and mile this season, in addition to earning a Patriot League title in the DMR as a freshman.

On the men's sprints side, freshman Gregory Celariste and junior Jason Omari-Anim both moved up the all-time list this season. Celariste moved from 10th to second on AU's 200 list, running 22.14 seconds at the Patriot League Championships. He also ran a PR of 7.13 seconds in the 60 meters, putting him at seventh all-time. At PLs, he ran a 400 PR of 50.14, moving up to second all-time, in addition to helping the men's DMR earn their PL title. Omari-Anim, who was previously tied for seventh all-time, moved up to third with a PR of 22.15 seconds at the Patriot League Championships.

The women's top-10 list was largely rewritten by underclassmen. Freshman Shealyn Brochu established herself at third in AU history in the mile and fourth in the 800. She also qualified for the mile final at the Patriot League Championships, finishing in eighth in 4:51.11. Freshman Emma Colavito put her name on the all-time list for the 3k (9:56.93) and 5k (17:43.46). Sophomore Kara Langbaum added herself to the indoor 800 list for AU, running a three-second PR of 2:16.37 for seventh all-time. The squad had two women, Langbaum and sophomore Zoe Rector, named to the PL Academic All-League Team.

In the women's sprints, junior Lorelei Bangit opened her season by breaking her own program record in the 300 by two seconds, running 39.95 seconds. Freshman Lilia Jones established herself at second in AU history in the 60 meters; she improved her personal best three times this season, culminating in a PR of 7.68 seconds at the Patriot League Championships. Sophomore Lara Gin has PRed in the 400 twice this season, improving her third all-time mark to 57.49 seconds at the Patriot League Championships.

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