Men's Track and Field Battles Wind at UTEP Invitational
4/11/2009 12:00:00 AM
April 11, 2009
EL PASO, Texas - Competing with split squads this weekend, the Alabama men's track and field team saw action at the UTEP Invitational at Kidd Field as well as the 30th Sun Angel Track Classic hosted by Arizona State University at Joe Sellah Track at Sun Angel Stadium.
At UTEP, Michael Nichols finished second in the long jump after jumping a seasonal best 23-0 1/4, besting his previous best this year by almost a foot. Shaun Gaiser was third with a leap of 22-6 3/4.
In the high jump, Tyler Boswell cleared 6-8 3/4 for the third straight week but was unable to clear the qualifying height of 6-10 3/4. Tyler Campbell also cleared 6-8 3/4 for his first mark of the outdoor season. Boswell and Campbell placed third and fourth, respectively.
Trevor Denkers threw his third regional mark in as many weeks to finish third with a heave of 207-1 1/2.
Also turning in their third straight regional time was the 4x100m relay team with a time of 40.58. Members of that team were Brandon Spradley, David Chaplin, Ray Jadusingh and Matt Watson.
In the 100m dash, with the wind aiding the sprinters, Jadusingh ran a time of 10.13 (+7.8). Unfortunately, the wind was too strong for record and regional qualifying purposes.
Spradley also ran a wind-aided 21.27 (+6.8) in the 200m dash to win his heat and finish third overall.
"The weather here was somewhat cool and very windy so Mother Nature kind of affected performances," head coach Harvey Glance said. "A lot of stuff didn't count because of the wind. 4.0 is the highest in regards to what counts for regionals. We had a lot of top 3 top 4 finishes and the guys did a great job competing even with the wind."
At Arizona State, Abraham Kutingala continued to have a good showing this season as he finished third in the 3,000m steeplechase with a regional qualifying time of 8:55.28.
Emmanuel Bor also qualified for regionals with a season best time of 3:45.40 in the 1,500m run for a seventh place finish.
In Tyson David's first time running in the 5,000m since the NCAA Indoor Championships, he won the event with a time of 14:02.73. The time qualifies David for the regional meet for which he has already qualified for in the 1,500m.
The men's track and field team will take a week off before the taking to the track again April 23-25 at the prestigious Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
