UNA’s first women’s indoor/outdoor track team is making its debut with a total of eight track meets this season.

The team was recently added to help UNA gain status as a Division I school. With the addition of the women’s indoor/outdoor track team, UNA has 14 varsity sports, which settles part of the NCAA requirements for Division I.

The team has already had two indoor meets this year with the Sewanee Tiger Indoor Track & Field Invitational in Sewanee, Tenn., Feb. 2 and the Emory Crossplex Invitational in Birmingham Jan. 28.

“We were apprehensive about running in Birmingham, but we’re getting better,” said Scott Trimble, head coach.

The girls finished 12th out of 15 teams in Birmingham, but each girl ran hard to finish in the top of each of their events in Sewanee. Most notably, Kenley Crouch finished second in the 800 meter, freshman Lori-Anna Lovelace finished third in the one-mile run and the distance medley team finished second overall.

“Since we are new Coach Trimble and Coach (Hannah) Simmons are experimenting with the line-up and allowing us to run different events,” Lovelace said. “We train each week to get better so we can peak at the right time.”

The team will split up their season into a combination of indoor and outdoor meets, most of which are against D-I schools. The girls have six outdoor meets left this spring.

The girls said they feel prepared.

“We are all self-motivated to improve every day,” Lovelace said.

“Being the first year as an indoor/outdoor track team, we want to set a high standard for this program,” said Hope Rayburn, a junior. “We also want to be positive representatives of UNA track and UNA athletics.”

Most of the girls who were recruited for the track team ran on the UNA cross country team in the fall, but two of the girls came from the UNA cheerleading team, and Rayburn was recruited from the UNA volleyball team.

“I know this is the first track team the university has ever had compete, and I’m just excited to be part of it,” Lovelace said. “Coach Trimble said we were going to be part of history.”

The runners are also training hard to make history in academics.

“Not only do they do what they’re supposed to on the field, but they do what they’re supposed to in the classroom as well,” Trimble said. “We had the highest GPA of all sports on campus last semester.”

The women’s indoor/outdoor track and field team will be competing next at the Rhodes College Open in Memphis, Tenn., March 16.