Track & Field Set for NCAA Championships
6/7/2011 12:00:00 AM
June 7, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama men's and women's track and field teams are sending four individuals and a relay team to the NCAA Outdoor Championships this week in Des Moines, Iowa
The men's team will be represented by Kirani James, Fred Samoei and the 4x400m relay team of James, Samoei, Dwayne Extol and Bobby Onyeukwu. The women's squad will have Meghan Austin and Kaylon Eppinger competing against the nation's best.
CBS will provide television coverage of the meet on Friday and Saturday. Saturday's coverage, from 12-2 p.m., will be carried on the CBS network. Coverage on Friday, June 10, will be provided from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
The entire NCAA Championships will stream live online at NCAA.com, and feature two separate streams to cover the majority of the action both on the track and with the field events.
The Crimson Tide begins competition on the first day at Drake Stadium starting at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday with Samoei competing in the semifinals of the 800m. Samoei won the NCAA title in the event during the indoor season and owns the third-fastest time in the nation this season at 1:45.19.
At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, James will line up in his semifinal heat of the 400m as the sophomore aims to defend his title in the event. The NCAA East Region Champion, James posted the second-fastest time in the nation this season with a 44.86 finish to win the Southeastern Conference title. He will face stiff competition as five of the top eight runners in the world are in the NCAA 400m field.
Should Samoei and James advance out of the semifinals, the championship heats will be staged on Friday evening.
The women's team begins competition on Thursday afternoon with Kaylon Eppinger in the first four events of the heptathlon. Eppinger finished second in the event at the SEC Championships and is ranked seventh in the event nationally this season with a score of 5,499 set at the Alabama Relays. The final three events will follow on Friday afternoon.
Senior Meghan Austin will compete in the javelin Thursday afternoon. Austin qualified for the championships at the NCAA East Regional after finishing second in the event at the SEC Championships and is ranked 20th in the nation this season with a mark of 160-4.
That evening, the men's 4x400m relay will get in the blocks for its semifinal heat. The team qualified at the NCAA East Regional with its fastest time of the season at 3:06.25 to rank 14th in the field. Should the relay team advance, it will participate in the championship heat on Saturday in the final event of the NCAA Championships at 1:50 p.m.
NCAA Championships
Alabama Schedule
Wednesday, June 8
6:15 p.m. - Men's 800m semifinal - Fred Samoei
7 p.m. - Men's 400m - semifinal - Kirani James
Thursday, June 9
1-6:30 p.m. - Women's Heptathlon - Kaylon Eppinger
3:05 p.m. - Women's Javelin - Meghan Austin
8:20 p.m. - Men's 4x400m semifinal - Dwayne Extol, Kirani James, Fred Samoei, Bobby Onyeukwu
Friday, June 10
4-7:45 p.m. - Women's Heptathlon - Kaylon Eppinger
7:20 p.m. - Men's 800m final - Fred Samoei*
8:02 p.m. - Men's 400m final - Kirani James*
Saturday, June 11
1:50 p.m. - Men's 4x400m Relay final - Dwayne Extol, Kirani James, Fred Samoei, Bobby Onyeukwu*
*If qualified.
Players Mentioned
