Women's Track and Field Heading to NCAA Region Championships
5/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
After a highly successful outing at the Southeastern Conference Championships, the Alabama women's track and field team now turns its focus to the second leg of the postseason, the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships held Friday and Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.
The Crimson Tide qualified nine athletes to compete in 15 events for the first round of the NCAA Championships. Alabama will be led by junior Tahsa Pharr and sophomores Beau Walker, All-American Beth Mallory and Aymara Albury.
Fields for the four region meets that will go on this weekend are composed of conference champions in each event and those who meet the new regional qualifying standards. The top five finishers in each individual event and the top three teams in each relay event at the regional meets will advance to the NCAA Championships.
Pharr will be the work horse of the championships, competing in the long and triple jump as well as running the 100m hurdles and a leg on the 4x100m relay. She is ranked eighth in the nation in the triple jump.
Walker will run the 100 and 400-meter hurdles as well as a leg on the Tide's 4x100m relay. Walker became the first Tide woman to run under 13 seconds in the 100m hurdles when she posted a 12.99 to take second at the SEC Championships. She ranks second all-time for the Tide in the 400m hurdles and is ranked in the top-10 nationally in both the 100 and 400.
In the field, Mallory, the 2004 SEC Discus Champion will throw the discus and the hammer at regionals. She holds the school record in the hammer and stands just off the school mark in the discus. She is ranked fourth nationally in the discus. Albury will shot put for the Tide, an event in which she holds the school record and is ranked top-20 nationally. She is also currently ranked third in the world in the shot put under-20 division.
Others competing for the Tide this weekend include junior Chafree Bain in the discus, sophomore Kou Lougon in the 400m dash and triple jump, sophomore Majik Reed in the 100m dash and freshman Rachel Wilson in the 400m hurdles. Reed and junior Christy Fairley, along with Pharr and Walker, will run the 4x100m relay.
This is the second year of the regional format for the outdoor championships. Alabama finished 11th at the inaugural NCAA Mideast Regional Championships held on the Ohio State campus.
