AUBURN, Ala. – A pair of Samford University track & field competitors took home 1^st place finishes at the War Eagle Invitational hosted by Auburn University at Hutsell-Rosen Track this past weekend.

As a whole the Bulldogs have been on a steady path of progressing in the right direction as 19 total student-athletes posted Top 10 finishes at this weekend's highly competitive meet.

"I really feels that our program is moving in the right direction." Head Coach Rod Tiffin stated. "We are close to being ready for the conference championships."

A pair of Bulldogs took home top-ranked finishes as Karisa Nelson broke her own school record in the women's 1,500 meters with a 1^st place finish time of 4:19.98. The Brewton, Alabama native previously broke the record at the Pepsi Florida Relays a couple of weeks ago with a time of 4:22.23.

"Our distance group did a great job this weekend and got us started on Friday night." Tiffin said. "Arsène (Guillorel) and Ansley (Bos) ran great and Karisa continues to be impressive."

"A win for her at a meet of this caliber shows how talented she (Karisa) is."

Bos followed up Nelson with a 7^th place finish in the event with a time of 4:29.50 while Guillorel secured a 5^th place finish in the men's 1,500 meters with a time of 3:45.56 which ranks 2^nd all-time at Samford. The record for the men is held by Adam Jones who ran a 3:44.79 in 2015.

Tray Oates was the second Bulldog to earn a 1^st place finish on the weekend. Oates vaulted his way to a 5.30m mark which was just .02m shy of his school-record mark he set just a week ago at the South Alabama Invitational.

"Tray is close to being one of the top vaulters in the country," Tiffin explained. "And he is getting to be very consistent at high heights."

Sophomore Marquis Barnes put together a solid performance for the Bulldogs in the men's long jump as he tallied a 2^nd place finish in the event. The Carrolton, Georgia native turned in a mark of 7.53m which was just behind Arkansas State's Roelf Pienaar who took first with a leap of 7.79m.

"Marquis put it together this weekend and looked great on the runway." Tiffin said. "When he is consistent with his run he is really good."

Sarah Sanford continued her positive climb as she turned in not one top five finish but two on the weekend as she came close to breaking two of her own records in the women's 100 & 400 meter hurdles. The Hoover, Alabama native finished third overall in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 58.88 and took 4^th in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.64.

Sanford set the school-record in both events as a freshman in 2015.

"Sarah's season is progressing even better than last year." Tiffin ended. " She just gets better every week."

The Bulldogs have only three weeks left to prepare for the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships and will continue their journey towards improvement next weekend in Starkville, Mississippi at the Mississippi State Invitational on April 29-30.