Alabama Men Ranked 11th in National Team Rankings
2/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama men's track & field men's remains No. 11 in this week's edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I National Team Computer Rankings released Monday. The Tide women currently have the 26th-most points in the survey. The Tide men are ranked third in this week's South Region rankings while the Alabama women are No. 7 in the South Region team survey.
The national team rankings are compiled by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points.
Two Alabama athletes and one men's relay team have produced performances than rank among the top 20 in the world as of Monday morning, Feb. 23, in this week's world indoor track performance lists according to All-Athletics.com: senior Alex Amankwah is ninth in the men's 800-meters (1:46.86) while senior Remona Burchell is tied for sixth in the women's 60 (7.14) ...this past Saturday, Feb. 21, the Crimson Tide's men's distance medley relay of Robbie Farnham-Rose, Steven Gayle, Jacopo Lahbi and Matt Airola set a new school record in the DMR with a clocking of 9 minutes, 29.93 seconds at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on the University of Notre Dame campus, breaking a school best that had stood for 15 years ... on Saturday, Feb. 14, Alabama's men's 4x400-meter relay unit of Steven Gayle, Cameron Hudson, Marlon Humphrey and Alex Amankwah broke a nine-year-old school record by more than a full second, running 3:06.05, a time that is currently fourth on the World List ... Burchell leads all collegiate runners in the women's 60-meter dash, leading a group of 10 Crimson Tide athletes in 11 events (plus the men's 4x400-meter relay and men's distance medley relay) that rank among the nation's top 20 through as of Monday morning, Feb. 23 ... for the men, junior Cameron Hudson is among the leaders in two men's events - the 60-meter dash (13th) and the long jump (sixth); Amankwah is fifth in the men's 800; sophomore Jacopo Lahbi is 18th in the men's 800; junior Justin Fondren is seventh in the men's high jump; and sophomore Jeremiah Green has the nation's 14th-best mark in the men's triple jump while the men's 4x400-meter relay is currently fifth in the nation and the men's distance medley relay ranks 8th nationally ... for the women, junior Kimberley Ficenec ran a personal best 2:05.25 on Feb. 13 at Arkansas, the third-fastest time in Alabama history that ranks 12th nationally, while sophomore pole vaulter Lakan Taylor is ninth in the vault; sophomore hurdler Vanessa Clerveaux is tied for the nation's 20th-best time in the 60-meter hurdles ... as of Monday, Feb. 23, 17 Alabama athletes in 14 events, plus four relay teams, have produced performances that rank among the conference's top 10 overall this season as Burchell leads the SEC in the women's 60 while Fondren shares the SEC lead in the men's high jump ... 8 PRs (six women, two men) in seven events, including one school record and nine performances that rank among the Alabama all-time top 10 eight events in Alabama's most recent competition on Feb. 13-14 at the Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. ... Burchell led the Crimson Tide on Feb. 13 by winning the women's 60-meter dash with an NCAA-leading time of 7.14 seconds, her third clocking of the day that ranks among the top 10 all-time in the event in Alabama history, along with her 7.17 in the semifinals and a 7.25 in the preliminary heats ... Burchell's 7.14 ranks second in Tide history behind her 7.11 set at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships ... junior Cameron Hudson had a PR in the men's long jump of 28-5¾, tied for sixth on Alabama's all-time performance list ... Gayle made his first 400 meters appearance for the Tide a memorable one, running a personal best 46.93 to win his heat of the finals, the no. 8 time on the Tide's all-time performance list ... a school record by the men's 4x400-meter relay of Gayle, Hudson, Humphrey and Amankwah broke the nine-year-old school record in the relay by more than a full second, running 3:06.05 to win the fifth heat of the 4x400-meter relay and finish third overall ... Amankwah's 45.5-second anchor leg on the relay pushed the Tide to the record after Gayle ran the first leg in 46.9 with Hudson going 46.3 on the second leg and Humphrey clocking a 46.9 on the third leg ... Kyle Felpel's won men's shot put toss of 61 feet, 4 inches, a season best for Felpel ... Fondren set a PR of 7 feet, 3 inches (2.21 meters) in the men's high jump ... seniors Merilyn Uudmae and Dominique Kimpel produced PRs in their respective events ... in the women's triple jump, Uudmae jumped 42-3 1/4 (12.88m), the second-best triple jump in Alabama history, while Kimpel ran a PR of 23.70 in the women's 200-meter dash ... Alabama competes this weekend at the 2015 SEC Indoor Championships slated for Friday-Saturday, Feb. 27-28, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
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