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Raven Saunders

Women's Track and Field

UWA Track and Field Adds Olympian to Staff

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama Men's and Women's Track and Field teams will have the benefit of learning from a recent Olympian as Raven Saunders has joined the UWA staff as a graduate assistant for the program.
 
"I'm elated to have Coach Saunders as a member of our coaching staff.," said Head coach Kirby Patterson Walker. "She's one of the best throwers in the world and has a wealth of knowledge from her experiences as an elite athlete.  I'm confident that with her help, our throwers will be successful."
 
Saunders finished fifth in the shot put at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
 
"I'm very excited to be a part of the great staff and school," said Saunders "I'm really looking forward to making the best of this opportunity and to bring conference championships to UWA."
 
The native of Charleston, S.C. competed collegiately at Ole Miss where she won the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championship. Saunders also earned gold medals at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championships and 2014 USA Junior Outdoor Championships while earning a silver medal at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships.
 
Saunders broke the women's NCAA indoor record in February 2015, recording the longest throw by a female collegian ever, indoor or outdoor. She's also an indoor NCAA Division I women's shot put record holder and 2017 USA Outdoor Shot Put Champion.
 
Before graduating from Burke High School in her hometown in 2014, she set the all-time national high school girls record in the shot put in 2014 and broke the South Carolina shot put record by 11 feet. Her efforts helped Saunders become the 2014 Gatorade Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
 
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