Owls Conclude C-USA Championships With Gold Medal

Saturday, February 18

Birmingham, Ala.

All Day

Florida Atlantic

Conference USA Indoor Championships

2/19/2023 10:06:00 PM | Women's XC/Track & Field

Final Results (PDF)

By: Ben Paul, FAU Student

Birmingham, Ala. – The Florida Atlantic University track & field team concluded their indoor season in a big way at the 2023 Conference USA championships. The Owls finished the two-day meet in eighth place.

Jessica Lambert's historic season culminated in winning the gold medal in the 800m finals with a time of 2:08.54, a couple of ticks behind her school record set earlier in the year. Lambert previously won the 800m indoor championships in 2021.

The Owls also saw success from Madlen Kappeler for the second day in a row. She again had a strong performance in a distance run, this time the 3000m. Her time of 9:43 is her personal record and good for second best in FAU history.

FAU concluded the championships with a strong showing in the 4x400 relay. Lambert, Cara Simpson, Eriana Teague, and Melissa Mundell finished with a time of 3:48.03, sixth best in school history.

Coaches' Take

Head Coach Alex Smolka on this weekend's performance
"I'm super encouraged by our results! We had 17 student athletes competing at our C-USA indoor championships; all of them set new PRs during the 2023 indoor season, or at least set season's best at the championships. Our relays did an awesome job with our DMR crushing the school record and getting on the podium for the first time since we joined Conference USA. Our upperclassmen led by example and our team chemistry couldn't be better. I'd like to thank our sports supervisor, Senior Associate AD for Development Alvin Hines, for his support, Coach Georgette Nixon for her awesome coaching, and our athletic trainer Melissa Wieand for her hard work. I'm super excited for the future. Go Owls!"

Coach Georgette Nixon
"Two words I can use to describe this weekend is 'perseverance' and 'grit.' The lady Owls showed up as their best selves and came out with 12 new personal bests, six new FAU top-10 marks, third place finish in the DMR AND a school record in the event, and a fourth place finish in the 4x4. We stood tough in a tough conference and I couldn't be more proud! I want to give a special shout-out to Jessica Lambert challenging hard for the conference title in the 800m race and for putting the team on her back, running the 800m leg of the DMR, two rounds of the 800m, and the 4x4. She's a figher! She's a great example for the team and we are excited to see this young team continue to rise. Go Owls!"

Upcoming

This concludes the 2023 indoor season. The Owls will return for outdoor track season beginning Mar. 17 in Tampa for the USF Invitational.

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