The UNCW track and field team enters 2007 with high hopes following last season’s second and third-place CAA finishes for the men and women respectively. Head coach Jim Sprecher begins his 11th total season at the helm of the Seahawks, a run that has produced four conference championships.

Sprecher, a four-time CAA Coach-of-the-Year, returns a large majority of last year’s squad that finished strong in the conference meet.

Twelve Seahawks qualified to participate in the NCAA Championships in 2006. Six now return looking to repeat the accomplishment and make their way back to Sacramento, Calif., in June.

Of the returning athletes, senior Anna Raynor has the most to live up to.

Raynor, the two-time defending CAA Female Athlete-of-the-Year, is one of only three athletes in the history of the CAA to win the honor in consecutive years.

In 2006, Raynor proved to be a jack of all trades, earning All-Conference honors in javelin, long jump, high jump, high hurdles and the 4×100-meter relay.

Raynor’s domination, however, is most obvious in the javelin.

Setting six school records in the event in 2006, Raynor made her way to a national ranking of fourth after finishing fourth in the NCAA Championships.

Also returning are three legs of the men’s 4×400 relay team that set the school record at last year’s regional meet.

The Seahawks aren’t just returning talent. Twenty freshman signings will give the experienced Seahawk squad a certain youthful flair. Ten new athletes on each the men’s and women’s sides will fill the voids left by last year’s 10 seniors.

“We were able to replace talent from grad and we return a strong roster from last year. This class compliments our returning athletes,” said Sprecher at the announcement of his latest recruiting class.

The Seahawks open their indoor season Jan. 26-27 in Newport News, Va., at the Christopher Newport Invitational. UNCW will later host three meets in March, beginning with The Battle of the Beaches III on March 3.