Men's Track Places 23rd at NCAA Championships
6/12/2010 12:00:00 AM
June 12, 2010
EUGENE, Ore. - Though the Alabama men's track and field team did not have any competitors on Saturday at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the squad finished in a tie for 23rd as a team after action concluded on the fourth and final day. The Crimson Tide, coming into the meet ranked as the 32nd-best team in the nation, tallied its highest point total since 2002 with 11 points.
Scorers for the Alabama men were freshman Kirani James and junior Fred Samoei. James finished first in the 400 meter final on Saturday, claiming the first NCAA outdoor title for the Tide since 2002 and first ever in the 400 meter event.
Samoei finished eighth in the 800 meter final on Saturday and became the first Alabama male student-athlete to earn outdoor All-America honors in the 800 meters since Peter Etoot in 2005. Samoei is the fourth to earn the honor in the 800 meters outdoors in school history.
This is the first year since 2005 that the Alabama men have had two All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
In the final team standings, Texas A&M claimed the team title with 55 points. Florida followed in second and Oregon was third, tallying 54 and 45 points, respectively. Alabama finished tied for 23rd with a point total of 11. It is the highest team finish for Alabama since 2002 when the team placed 11th.
Attendance for the final day of competition was at 12,812, while over the four day championship meet, the largest crowd in the history of the NCAA Championships amassed at Hayward Field with 45,847 fans entering the gates.
Alabama Men's Results (All Weekend)
800 Meter Final (6/11): 8. Fred Samoei - 1:47.84
400 Meter Final (6/11): 1. Kirani James - 45.05
4x400 Meter Relay Semifinal (6/10): 10. Norgrove, Stockstell, James, Watson - 3:07.22
4x100 Meter Relay Semifinal (6/9): 16. Spradley, James, Jadusingh, Watson - 40.29
800 Meter Semifinal (6/9): 3. Fred Samoei - 1:45.94!+
400 Meter Semifinal (6/9): 2. Kirani James - 45.44+
Alabama Men All-Americans
800 Meters - 8. Fred Samoei (1 point)
400 Meters - 1. Kirani James (10 points) - National Champion
! - Personal-best; * - Season-best; + - Advanced to next round; DQ - Disqualified; DNF - Did not finish; NM - No mark; FS - False start; SR - School record
