Women's Track Opens Indoor Season at Kentucky Invitational
1/14/2010 12:00:00 AM
Jan. 14, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama women's track and field team embarks on their 2010 campaign this weekend as they travel to Lexington, Ky., for the Kentucky Invitational. The meet is being hosted at the E.J. Nutter Field House on Jan. 15-16.
The Crimson Tide returns all but one member of the team that scored at last season's SEC Outdoor Championships so there are high expectations of this year's squad.
Last year, Alabama was led all season long by senior hurdler Kim Laing and senior multi-event athlete Chealsea Taylor. Taylor placed third in the high jump as well as the pentathlon at the 2009 SEC Indoor Championships. She would go on to compete at the NCAA Championships in the high jump.
Laing finished fourth in the 60m hurdles last season at the SEC Indoor championships. In addition, during the outdoor season, she placed fourth in the 100m hurdles at the Region Championships and competed at the NCAA Championships.
The Tide did produce one SEC Title in 2009. Angelica Howard, now just a junior, brought Alabama its first-ever SEC Championship in the hammer throw last year. During her indoor season, she finished eighth in the shot put, but is looking for the title in the weight throw this year.
Krystle Schade returns for her first indoor season after redshirting last year. Schade completed a stellar rookie outdoor campaign which concluded after she competed for Team USA at the Pan Am Junior Games finishing second in the high jump. As a true freshman, Schade earned All-Mideast Region honors in the high jump and placed fourth at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Rachel Robbs is another multi-event athlete that showed promise last year as just a sophomore, competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the heptathlon. Robbs holds the second-best score in the pentathlon and sits at third in the heptathlon in school history.
The Invitational is slated to begin at 5 p.m. CST on Friday with select field events. The meet will resume with field events Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. before the running events start at 11:30 a.m.
Players Mentioned
