Briarcrest Track and Field closed
out this signing period with a couple of star athletes making the commitment to
continue their careers in college.
Meghan Underwood, the 2017 D2 800M state champion signed with University
of Arkansas and Savanna Owens, two-time D2 400M state champion choosing
University of Memphis.
Meghan started her high school track career at St. Benedict where she holds the 400 and 800 (In) school records. She has won the Sonny Winters Sportsmanship Award, sponsored by the Commercial Appeal. She earned that award for her self-less effort by stopping during a race to help a downed runner get back up and finish the race. A testimony to her integrity in the sport and choosing to always do the right thing when on the track!
Since transferring to Briarcrest, Meghan has thrived in her track career where she's broken the 800, 3200M and the 4x200 relay School records. At last year's state championships, Meghan ran a 2:15.77 which was the fastest of all divisions that day and ran in the State runner up 4x400 team as well. Meghan also holds the second fastest all time for the indoor 800 in TN when she ran a 2:13.18 at the Vanderbilt High School indoor meet.
The 400M race is probably one of the most grueling on the track, but with two state championships in the distance, Savanna makes it look fairly easy... the key word here is "looks"; since we know it's not easy! But here's a nice stat to think about, since April 2016, Savanna has run under the minute mark in all her 400M races! That's over ten races in a row under that time. Amazing!
Savanna has been a key part of the Saints Track and Field team since her freshman year, helping the team become a three-time D2 Region champion. Savanna has PR's of 12.57 in the 100, 25.31 in the 200 and 56.08 in the 400M. Those times are certainly a big reason she chose to pursue Track & Field in college over her talent on the Basketball court. With the competiveness that drives this young athlete, that decision was not an easy one for Savanna, but for those that watch her talents on the track can certainly be thankful for.
Last summer, Savanna competed in the AAU Junior Olympics placing 8th in the nation that earned her All-American status. Previous summers were spent on the basketball court, so you can say that was a successful summer on the track for this 400 runner. Savanna also has her name tagged on the schools 400M record, 4x400 and 4x200 records!
Savanna also teamed with Meghan and ran on the 4x400 runner up team last year at state and again with Meghan to set another school record in the 4x200 at an earlier meet. Savanna's has also been on the 4x400 State runner up team for all three years running track. Maybe these two athletes will want to step it up one notch this season in that relay?? We'll see!
Not only do both these athletes excel on the track, their classroom achievements are high as well. Both are members of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society and active in their respective churches. However, before they head off to Memphis and Arkansas, we are going to want to see them showcase their talents this spring and especially at the State Championships in May! Good luck ladies and looking forward to the spring!