No. 26 Alabama Readies for NCAA Championships
3/11/2010 12:00:00 AM
March 11, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 26 Alabama men's track and field team is set for its second trip to Fayetteville, Ark. in as many weeks, this time for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The national meet is being held at the Randal Tyson Track Center, March 12-13.
The Tide will be represented by one student-athlete in three separate events, the 400m dash, 60m dash and high jump. The championship meet is set to begin on Friday at 10:00 a.m. (CST) and competition will conclude Saturday after the last event, which is slated for an 8:40 p.m. start. Alabama athletes will compete on Friday at 5:55 p.m. (400m) and 6:25 p.m. (60m), and then on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. (high jump). Athletes competing on Friday could compete again on Saturday should they advance to the finals in their respective events.
LIVE RESULTS
Live results will be provided by FlashResults.com and can also be found at the meet's central site, ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
TELEVISION AND STREAMING VIDEO
ESPN360.com will stream the championships live beginning at 8 p.m. (CST) on Friday, March 12 and 6:10 p.m. on Saturday, March 13. To access the live stream, visit www.ESPN360.com. Anyone with a .edu e-mail address is able to obtain access to ESPN360 at no cost. NCAA.com will stream supplemental coverage as available when ESPN360.com is not live. Additionally, ESPN2 will air a 90-minute show at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
On the men's side, the Tide has tallied one NCAA automatic mark and seven provisional marks this season from five athletes and one relay, but was only able to get three bodies into the national championship meet. Freshman Kirani James, in the 400m dash, holds the automatic qualifier, with a time of 45.24 which ranks as the second-fastest time in the nation. James is coming off an All-SEC performance at the SEC Championships where he finished second and set a new indoor Junior World Record. Senior Ray Jadusingh will also be competing in the meet in the 60m dash and is tied for the seventh-fastest time in the nation with a 6.62. Sophomore Tyler Campbell is the final qualifier for the Tide and will be vying for All-American honors in the high jump as well as he enters the meet tied for the 12th-best leap in the country with a clearance of 7-2 1/2. Campbell is coming off a fifth-place finish at the SEC Championships. Jadusingh is the only Alabama athlete with national meet experience as he competed at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
ALABAMA'S HISTORY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Alabama's men have scored as a team 29 times at the indoor national meet - highest in 2002 when it placed second. Crimson Tide male athletes have accumulated 10 individual titles including David Kimani who claimed two titles in one meet (meet record), which has been done on 18 occasions - twice by Kimani, once at South Alabama (2000) and at Alabama (2001).
IN THE POLLS
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Week 7 Rankings were released this week. The Alabama men are just out of the top 25, checking in at No. 26 for the second consecutive week. There are 90 men's teams ranked this week.
The current USTFCCCA men's poll includes seven SEC teams in the top 25 led by the Florida Gators who rank No. 1 in the nation. The LSU Tigers trail at No. 5 and are followed by the Arkansas Razorbacks in eighth, the Auburn Tigers in 17th, the Georgia Bulldogs in 18th, the Kentucky Wildcats in 23rd and the Mississippi Rebels in 25th.
2010 ALL-SEC HONOREES
Alabama's men garnered two All-SEC honors in 2010, but from the same athlete. With his indoor Junior World Record time of 45.24 and second-place finish in the 400m dash, standout freshman Kirani James earned All-SEC Second Team accolades as well as All-SEC Freshman team honors for being the top freshman finisher.
JAMES NAMED SEC MEN'S FRESHMAN RUNNER OF THE YEAR
On March 4, freshman Kirani James was named the SEC Men's Freshman Runner of the Year, as voted on by the league head coaches. The Gouyave, Grenada, native is the second Alabama athlete to garner the award (Emmanuel Bor, 2007). At the SEC Championships, James earned All-SEC honors by finishing second in the 400m with a NCAA automatic qualifying, personal-best-tying time of 45.24 and contributed 14 points to Alabama's team total of 47. His time shattered his indoor Junior World Record as well as his Alabama school record. James and eventual SEC champion Torrin Lawrence of Georgia broke the SEC meet record. James led the Alabama 4x400m relay to its highest finish at the SEC Championships since 1999, third. With his 400m time of 45.24, James holds the fifth-fastest time in collegiate indoor history and third-fastest indoor 400m time in the world this year, including the fastest time on an oversized track. In addition, James holds the second-fastest 200m time (20.94) in school history and was a member of the seventh-fastest 4x400m relay squad (3:09.27).
NEW JUNIOR WORLD RECORD
On Feb. 6 at the Meyo Invitational, true freshman Kirani James of Gouyave, Grenada, broke the indoor Junior World Record at 400m when he posted a time of 45.79, breaking the 12-year old previous record of 45.90 held by Brandon Couts of the United States, set in 1998. Weeks later at the SEC Championships on Feb. 28 James shattered his own world record as he posted a time of 45.24, which also set a Grenada national record.
QUICK LOOK AT 2009 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Alabama men entered the national meet last season ranked 45th in the nation and bettered that ranking as they tallied a 41st place team finish, while Oregon took top honors with 54 points. Tyson David garnered his first Division I indoor All-American accolade in the 5,000m race. David finished fifth with a time of 13:49.50. Emmanuel Bor was the only other competitor for the men's squad and he competed in the 3,000m race. Bor just missed out on All-American honors, finishing 10th with a time of 8:03.73.
