ATHENS, GA. – After disappointing outings at the CAA Championships last week, College of Charleston track and field runners Alexia Neal and Rachel Leder found redemption this afternoon at the Georgia Invitational, an annual meet hosted by the University of Georgia.

“I'm proud of the girls,” said College of Charleston track and field head coach Amy Seago. “They both had something to prove after the CAA Championships. I think Rachel and Alexia showed a lot of resolve to continue to train for another week and showed that they are still hungry – there is more they want to accomplish.”

The Cougars headed to Athens to run the 400 meter hurdles just one week removed from a meet that saw Leder disqualified due to a false start and Neal –leading at the time – unable to finish the finals after losing her balance coming off the final hurdle.

On Saturday, however, the two runners put those memories to rest, finishing in seventh (Neal) and eighth (Leder) place overall, against a highly-competitive SEC-caliber field, with times of 1:03.36 and 1:03.90, respectively. Leder's time was good enough for a new personal record, breaking her previous mark by half a second.

Neal and Leder now place second and third, respectively, on The College's career leaderboard in the 400 meter hurdles. Mary Zolga holds the program's top mark with a time a time of 1:03.06 – set in 2011.

“Alexia and Rachel ran very well today,” said College of Charleston assistant coach Ben Yocum. “I am incredibly proud of all the hard work these women have put in this year. Both have made major improvements in their 100 and 400 meter hurdle races. I feel like they have laid a foundation for the next year while simultaneously raising the bar in terms of their own expectations. The future of Cougar hurdling is bright.”