Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Macon, Ga. -- The reigning Atlantic Sun indoor track and field pole vault champion made a statement during the final week of regular season competition as Gardner-Webb's Kelly Bridges broke a five-year-old school record with the league's best vault of the season at the Appalachian Limited.

The sophomore athletic training major from Lilburn, Ga., won the event with her record-setting vault of 11-5 3/4 (3.50m), establishing a new person best along the way.

Bridges receives the award for the first time in her collegiate career and becomes just the second member of the Gardner-Webb women's track and field team to earn such honors.

Her mark in the event is nearly an entire foot higher than her conference winning vault of 10-6 at last years A-Sun indoor championships. Her 2006 winning vault (10-6) is also the best among the rest of the competition that she will face when the pole vault gets under way at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tenn., where Bridges will look to defend her title.

The Atlantic Sun Athlete of the Week is announced every Wednesday during the 2007 indoor track season.

The 12-member league headquartered in Macon, Ga., consists of Belmont, Campbell, ETSU, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, UNF and Stetson with Florida Gulf Coast and USC Upstate beginning competition in 2007-08.

Other Top Performers:

• Amy Stroder, North Florida
[Jr. -- Sugarland, Texas -- Biology]
Stroder competed at the Tiger Invitational where she finished 15th out of 48 runners in the 200-meter dash (26.33). She also tied for eighth in th high jump with a mark of 5-4 1/4 (1.63m).

• Nae-Nae Bailey, ETSU
[So. -- Statesville, N.C. -- Radiology]
Bailey posted a season-best time of 7.26 in the 55-meter dash for a ninth-place finish in the event.