Previewing the 2015 John Mitchell Alabama Relays
3/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
This Week: 2015 John Mitchell Alabama Relays
DATES: Thursday-Saturday, March 19-21, 2015
LOCATION: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
VENUE: Sam Bailey Track & Field Complex
TWITTER: @AlabamaTrack
LIVE RESULTS: http://results.flotrack.org/2015/03-19-Alabama/
TV/VIDEO STREAMING: WatchESPN/SEC Network+; Friday, 5-9 p.m. CT; Saturday, 2-6 p.m. CT
Heat Sheets: Thursday - Field| Friday - Track/ Field| Saturday - Track/ Field
The University of Alabama track & field team kicks off the 2015 outdoor season by hosting the John Mitchell Alabama Relays, Thursday, March 19, through Saturday, March 21. Action gets started on Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT with the men's hammer throw. The John Mitchell Alabama Relays is the first of two 2015 home meets this month at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Stadium. The Crimson Tide will host the Crimson Tide Invitational on Saturday, March 28. The Alabama track facility was renovated in 2013. Work included the installation of a new surface featuring wider turns that promise faster times in long sprints. The $4.7 million renovation also featured a new building to house timekeepers, renovations to the press box and drastic improvements for the fan experience. A total of 55 Alabama athletes (36 women, 19 men) are slated to compete this weekend. They are slated to compete in a total of 31 events. Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaTrack on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
67 Teams Competing at the 2015 John Mitchell Alabama Relays
At this writing, teams representing 67 schools (34 men's teams, 33 women's teams) ranging from junior colleges to large universities had submitted approved entries for the 2015 John Mitchalle Alabama Relays: Alabama (men & women), Alabama A&M (M & W), Alabama-Birmingham (W), Alabama State (M & W), Allen County (Kan.) Community College (M & W), Arkansas State (M & W), Barton County (Kan.) Community College (M & W), Belhaven (M & W), Belmont (M & W), Chattanooga (M & W), Cloud County (Kan.) Community College (M & W), Georgia Tech (M & W), Jackson State (M & W), Lewis (M & W), Lipscomb (M & W), Louisville (M & W), McKendree (M & W), Meridian (Miss.) Community College (M & W), Middle Tennessee State (M & W), Mississippi State (M & W), Mississippi (M & W), Mississippi Valley State (M & W), Morehouse (M), Murray State (W), Northwestern (M), Samford (M & W), Southeastern Louisiana (M & W), Southeast Missouri (M & W), Shorter (M & W), South Alabama (M), Southern Mississippi (M & W), Stephen F. Austin State (M & W), Tennessee (M & W), Tennessee State (M & W), Troy (M & W) and West Alabama (M & W).
Athletes representing Adidas, Milhouse Athletics, the Music City Mavericks Track Club and the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine also have entered to compete this weekend.
Head Coach Dan Waters on the Crimson Tide
"We're ready to start the outdoor season, and especially excited to get it started by hosting the John Mitchell Alabama Relays. The Relays is always a highlight of our year. We get to bring the Alabama Track & Field family together again while getting most of our team into competition on our home track, so it's an important weekend for us from several perspectives. We'll have more than 50 athletes competing this weekend. Some of our elite athletes will sit out the meet after competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend, including Remona Burchell. But we do have Hayden Reed starting his outdoor season in the discus on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. Hayden won the NCAA and USA titles last year and is a special athlete to watch. We're looking to get the outdoor season started right. The meet schedule makes for a fun spectator experience, with the event finals clustered in the evening hours on Friday and Saturday, so it's a good chance for the community to come out and see what track & field is all about."
Who to Watch This Week
Hayden Reed (So.), Men's Discus: Saturday, 3:05 p.m.
? The redshirt sophomore stunned the track world last June with convincing victories in the discus at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., and two weeks later at the USA Track & Field Championships, where he defeated an open field of competitors consisting of the best throwers in the nation regardless of age.
? After his breakout 2014 season, Reed finished the 2014 season ranked as America's No. 1 discus athlete.
? Reed became the first man since Kamy Keshmiri in 1990 to win the NCAA and USA titles in the discus in the same year.
? Reed, who won the NCAA crown with his final throw at the Outdoor Championships in early June, had a throw of 62.19 meters (204 feet) on his second attempt at the USATF Championships in late June, and that effort held up throughout the rest of the competition.
? His best throw of the 2014 season was a 209-1 effort on May 17 at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Lexington, Ky., a performance that earned a second-place finish for Reed.
? His winning effort at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., went 205 feet, 10 inches.
Burchell's 60 Crown Highlighted NCAA Indoor Meet for Alabama
? Senior All-American Remona Burchell blazed to her second NCAA 60-meter championship last Saturday night in Fayetteville, Ark., after posting a time of 7.12. With the win, she becomes Alabama's first repeat NCAA individual champion.
? Burchell, who set the collegiate record at 7.08 during last month's Southeastern Conference Championships, bettered the rest of the field Saturday night by 9/100ths of a second. USC's Ky Westbrook clocked a 7.21 for second place while Jasmine Todd of Oregon was third with a 7.22. Burchell's 7.12 in finals marks the sixth-fastest 60 time in collegiate history and third-fastest school history.
? Sophomore Lakan Taylor also earned All-America honors on the championships' final day, taking sixth in the pole vault after clearing a height of 14 feet, 1 ¼ inches.
? Junior Cameron Hudson ended up seventh overall, earning All-America honors and two points for the Tide in the team standings. Hudson's best mark of the night was a 24-foot, 11 3/4-inch (7.61 meters) effort on his third attempt.
? Both Alex Amankwah and Jeremiah Green competed in event finals on the final day of the championships. Amankwah took sixth in the finals of the 800-meters with a time of 1:48.03, earning All-America honors. Green was ninth in the triple jump after leaping 52 feet, 2 inches on his second attempt.
? The Crimson Tide women finished 17th in the team standings with 13 points, while the Tide men took 38th with five points. Arkansas won the women's meet with 63 points while the Oregon men took first 74 points.
4 Tide Athletes Earn Indoor 1st-Team All-America Honors
? Twelve Alabama athletes who competed at last weekend's NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., earned All-America honors based on their performances, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced.
? The four athletes combined for a total of 16 All-America citations overall, including four first-team honors by four athletes led by women's sprinter Remona Burchell earning first-team honors for her victory in the 60 meters.
? Other first-team honorees included women's pole vaulter Lakan Taylor, Alex Amankwah (men's 800 meters) and Cameron Hudson (men's long jump).
? Seven athletes earned second-team All-America honors: Justin Fondren (men's high jump), Jeremiah Green (men's triple jump), Jacopo Lahbi (men's 800 meters), Alex Amankwah (men's 4x400 relay), Steven Gayle (men's 4x400 relay), Cameron Hudson (men's 4x400 relay) and Quincy Smith (men's 4x400 relay).
? Four athletes on Alabama's distance medley relay received honorable mention: Matt Airola, Robbie Farnham-Rose, Steven Gayle and Andrew Harris.
? Amankwah and Hudson earned both first-team and second-team honors in different events.
? Sprinter Steven Gayle earned second-team honors and honorable mention in two different relays.
? First-Team honors were given to those who placed in the championships' top eight in an event or were a member of an eight-person final.
? Second-Team honors were earned by those who finished between ninth and 16th place.
? Any qualifiers who did not finish or were disqualified from their event were designated Honorable Mention.
? In addition, 14 men and four women earned honorable mention honors.
? Overall, the Southeastern Conference led the way in total first-team honorees both in the men's (45) and women's (61) competitions, with the Big 12 both second in the men's division with 33 and the ACC second in the women's division with 31.
Alabama's USTFCCCA All-America Honorees from the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships
First Team
Men - Alex Amankwah (800 meters) and Cameron Hudson (long jump)
Women - Remona Burchell (60 meters) and Lakan Taylor (pole vault)
Second Team
Men - Alex Amankwah (4x400 relay), Justin Fondren (high jump), Steven Gayle (4x400 relay), Jeremiah Green (long jump), Cameron Hudson (60 meters and 4x400 relay), Jacopo Lahbi (800 meters) and Quincy Smith (4x400 relay)
Honorable Mention
Men - Matt Airola (distance medley relay), Robbie Farnham-Rose (distance medley relay), Steven Gayle (distance medley relay) and Andrew Harris (distance medley relay)
Alabama In the Final Indoor Team Rankings
? The Alabama men's track & field team finished the 2015 indoor season ranked No. 11 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I National Team Computer Rankings released March 9.
? The Tide women ended the indoor season with the 28th-most points in the rankings.
? The Tide women were ranked fourth in the final indoor South Region rankings while the Alabama men were No. 5 in the South Region team survey.
Burchell, Reed Represent Alabama on Watch Lists for The Bowerman
? Alabama's two returning NCAA individual champions from 2014, senior sprinter Remona Burchell and sophomore thrower Hayden Reed, were both among an elite group of collegiate athletes listed among the preseason favorites for consideration for the 2015 Bowerman Trophy, collegiate track and field's highest honor.
? Burchell, the reigning indoor 60-meter and outdoor 100-meter NCAA champion is among 10 members of the award's Watch List.
? Reed, the 2014 NCAA and USATF men's discus champion, received votes but ranked just outside the top 10 on the Preseason Watch List for The Bowerman. Reed competes in the shot put during the indoor season.
Burchell Looking to Repeat as 100 Champion
? Alabama senior sprinter Remona Burchell has emphatically asserted herself as collegiate track's top female sprinter, having won the last three NCAA sprint titles: the 2014 indoor 60-meter dash, the 2014 outdoor 100 meters, and the 2015 indoor 60.
? Burchell will sit out this week's John Mitchell Alabama Relays as she takes a week off after winning the NCAA indoor 60 crown last weekend.
? Burchell and Arkansas distance runner Dominique Scott were co-recipients of the 2015 SEC Runner of the Year honor for Indoor Track & Field by virtue of a vote of the conference's head coaches.
? Burchell has been named the NCAA South Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA, and has been selected to the Pre-Indoor NCAA Championships edition of the women's Watch List for the 2015 Bowerman Trophy, collegiate track & field's highest individual honor.
? Burchell set a collegiate record in the 60-meter dash (7.08 seconds) on Feb. 28 at the SEC Indoor Championships.
? The 2014 NCAA indoor 60-meter champion and the 2014 NCAA outdoor 100-meter champion, Burchell ran the second-fastest 60 run in the world to date on Feb. 28 and, dating back to her 7.11 last year at altitude to win the NCAA title in Albuquerque, N.M., she now has two of the five fastest times in collegiate history.
? Burchell has posted the five fastest 60-meter dash times in Alabama history and owns 11 of the 13 fastest times on the Crimson Tide's all-time list.
? She started her 2015 season with a 7.28 in the 60 prelims on Jan. 24 at Vanderbilt, then followed up with a 7.25 in the final to win the event.
? On Jan. 31 at Albuquerque, Burchell ran a pedestrian 7.34 in the preliminary heat before blazing to victory in the final in 7.20.
? On Feb. 13 at Fayetteville, Burchell ran 7.25 in the prelims, 7.17 in the semis, then blazed a 7.14 to win the final.
? The Jamaican has virtually re-written the all-time Crimson Tide top 10 in the 60.
? Many do not know that Burchell ran in pain for much of the 2014 season with an injury that prevented her from running curves, but she is healthy this season.
Hudson a Force in Sprints & Jumps for Tide Men
? Tide newcomer Cam Hudson emerged as one of Alabama's top sprinters and jumpers in the 2015 indoor season.
? A transfer from East Carolina who was the 2014 Conference USA outdoor men's long jump champion (25-8; 7.82m), Hudson is currently ranked among the 2015 collegiate top 20 in the long jump (7th; 7.84m) and the 60-meter dash (15th, 6.63).
? Hudson also is a key part of Alabama's 4x400-meter relay, running the second leg on the unit that broke the school record with a 3:06.05 clocking on Feb. 14 at Fayetteville, Ark.
Amankwah Looks to be a Contender in Men's 800
? Alabama senior Alex Amankwah's best indoor 800-meter time of 1:46.86 on Jan. 24 at the Vanderbilt Invitational earned Amankwah the Southeastern Conference's Men's Runner of the Week honor on Jan. 27.
? A native of Ghana who immigrated to the United States and attended high school in Los Angeles, Calif., Amankwah bettered Ghana's men's national record with the performance that broke an 11-year-old Crimson Tide record set in 2004 by Peter Etoot, crossing the line .04 faster than Etoot's previous standard (1:46.90).
Ficenec Ranks Among Alabama's All-Time Leaders in Women's 800
? Junior Kimberley Ficenec ran a personal best in the women's indoor 800 meters of 2:05.25 on Feb. 13 at Arkansas, the third-fastest time in Alabama history that ranks tied for 13th nationally,
? Ficenec has produced three of the 10 fastest 800-meter times in Alabama history.
Back in the Relays Business - in a Big Way
? On 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.
? One week earlier, on Feb. 14 at Fayetteville, Ark., 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.
? 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.
? The 4x400 relay entered the NCAA indoor meet with the nation's No. 5 time overall while the DMR ranked 7th in the nation.
Green among National Leaders in Triple Jump
? Crimson Tide sophomore Jeremiah Green finished third at the SEC Indoor Championships with his best jump of the season to date, an effort of 52-10 1/4 (16.11m).
? Green won SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year honors in 2014 and is looking to contend for All-America honors this weekend, and maybe even more.
? The 2014 SEC indoor champion is already one of the top triple jump athletes in Alabama history.
? But Green is set on making much better jumps, as his personal best of 53-5 1/2 (16.29m) set in 2014 attests.
Fondren Emerging in the Men's High Jump
? Alabama junior Justin Fondren cleared a career-best of 7-3 (2.21m) at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 14.
? Fondren tied for second at the SEC Indoor meet at 7-2 1/4 (2.19m).
? Fondren has consistently ranked among the SEC's top high jumpers throughout his collegiate career.
? This season, Fondren and his coach, jumps legend Dick Booth, are hoping to see the Oxford, Miss., native become one of the nation's leaders in the event.
? Fondren earned All-America honors in 2014 by placing fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last June.
? Fondren cleared 7-1 (2.15m) on Jan. 31 in Albuquerque. He is currently tied for the seasonal lead in the SEC in the high jump and is the 14th seed at the NCAA meet.
Taylor Reaching New Heights in Women's Pole Vault
? A sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, Lakan Taylor is beginning to position herself among the top women's pole vaulters in Alabama history along with making a run at the upper echelon of the collegiate ranks.
? On Jan. 31, Taylor achieved a new personal best with a clearance of 14 feet, 1 3/4 inches (4.31 meters) to win the event at the New Mexico Team Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. Taylor has improved consistently over the course of the indoor season, taking top collegian honors at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 24 (13-9 1/4; 4.20m) followed by wins at New Mexico (Jan. 31) and Nebraska (Feb. 7) after opening the season fifth at the Auburn Invitational in Birmingham on Jan. 17 (12-7 1/2; 3.85m).
? Taylor enters action this weekend ranked fourth in the SEC for 2015, and is the 11th seed in the NCAA meet.
? She holds four of the top 10 clearances in Alabama history and her PR on Jan. 31 ranks second on the all-time Alabama list behind Alexis Paine's school record 14-3 1/2 (4.35m) set in 2014.
Tide Roster Has Youthful Slant
? Both the men's and women's rosters of the 2015 Alabama track & field team are predominantly populated by student-athletes classified as redshirt sophomores or younger in classification.
? A total of 56.4 percent (22 of 39) of the Tide women's roster consists of either freshmen or sophomores, while 52.2 percent (24 of 46) of the men's roster is either freshmen or sophomores.
? Overall, 55.4 percent (46 of 85) members of the current Crimson Tide team are either freshmen or sophomores.
4 Tide Footballers Contributing on Alabama's Track & Field Team
? Four members of Alabama's football team are competing in track & field for the Tide this season.
? Anthony Averett just completed his redshirt freshman season for the Tide on the gridiron, having redshirted in 2013 and getting a season under his belt in 2014. Averett is competing in the sprints and jumps during the indoor season.
? Sophomore hurdler/sprinter Tony Brown just finished his freshman season with football after enrolling in January 2014 and seeing action on the track last year. Brown played in 13 games this past season as a reserve defensive back and on special teams, racking up 10 tackles (7 solos), one tackle for loss, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry.
? Freshman Marlon Humphrey is competing in the sprints and hurdles for the Tide on the track, having just completed a redshirt season as a true freshman for the Tide football team.
? Bradley Sylve is competing in the short sprints for the Tide after completing his junior season with the football team. In 2014, Sylve played in all 14 games for the football team and had 8 tackles (7 solos) and broke up 2 passes.
8 Tide Athletes Were Ranked Among World, U.S. Leaders in 2014
? Eight University of Alabama athletes and three relay foursomes ended the 2014 world track & field season ranked among the best on the final United States and/or World Lists for top performances in the sport by Track & Field News magazine. The magazine, known internationally as the foremost authority on the sport, produced its top 10 World and United States rankings as part of its review of the entire 2014 athletics season in the February 2015 issue.
? Sprinter Remona Burchell of Jamaica and thrower Hayden Reed of the USA were the most prominent members of the 2014 Crimson Tide team on the year-end lists, but by no means were they the only athletes to earn mention among World or US leaders in their respective events over the course of the entire 2014 calendar year.
? Burchell, winner of the NCAA indoor women's 60-meter title and the NCAA outdoor women's 100-meter championship, ended the year with the 13th-fastest 100-meter dash time with her best clocking of 11.03 set at the NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 30. Burchell actually posted a wind-aided time of 10.95 seconds in the semi-finals of the 100 at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 11, but that mark does not officially count for record-keeping purposes as it was above the legal wind speed allowable. However, that time ranked as the fastest wind-aided mark in the world in 2014, and the fifth-fastest 100 run under any conditions in 2014.
? After a breakout season in which he captured the NCAA and USATF discus championships, Reed finished the 2014 season ranked as America's No. 1 discus athlete. Reed became the first man since Kamy Keshmiri in 1990 to win the NCAA and USA titles in the discus in the same year. Reed, who won the NCAA crown with his final throw at the Outdoor Championships in early June, had a throw of 62.19 meters (204 feet) on his second attempt at the USATF Championships in late June, and that effort held up throughout the rest of the competition. His best throw of the 2014 season was a 209-1 effort on May 17 at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Lexington, Ky., a performance that earned a second-place finish for Reed. His winning effort at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., went 205 feet, 10 inches.
? Several other athletes from the 2014 Crimson Tide team ended the year among the world or American leaders in a variety of events.
? Sprinter Diondre Batson, who won the NCAA indoor men's 200-meter title in March, ended an injury-plagued senior season with the 27th-fastest 100-meter time in the world for 2014, a 10.04 on May 3 at a meet in Starkville, Miss. Batson's 20.32 clocking in the 200 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships at Albuquerque, N.M., placed him 33rd on the 2014 final World List in the event.
? Thrower Charodd Richardson made remarkable improvements in the hammer and weight throw in 2014. Richardson ended up 37th overall on the U.S. List in the men's hammer via his personal best of 213-6 (65.07m).
? High jumper Justin Fondren was 30th on the U.S. list in the event via a 7-3 (2.21m) clearance he made in Tuscaloosa on April 5.
? In the women's pole vault, Alexis Paine completed her outstanding collegiate career during the indoor season with a school-record clearance of 14-3 1/2 (4.35m) on February 7 in Birmingham. That effort put Paine 21st on the final 2014 U.S. List in the event.
? As a freshman, Quanesha Burks ended the 2014 season tied for 22nd on the U.S. List in the long jump with a best of 20-11 1/4 (6.38m) set during the indoor season.
? Nia Barnes finished 2014 at 34th on the U.S. List in the hammer with a best of 203-9 (62.11m) set at the NCAA East Regional meet in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 29.
? The Crimson Tide relay teams also made the lists. Alabama's men's 4x100-meter relay quartet of Alex Sanders, Diondre Batson, Akeem Haynes and Dwight Davis was 35th on the 2014 World List with a time of 38.91 set on April 5 in Tuscaloosa. ? Alabama's men's 4x400 relay unit of Dwight Davis, Alex Amankwah, Jacopo Lahbi and Ken Taylor was 40th on the 2014 U.S. List with a clocking of 3:07.09 set at the SEC Outdoor Championships on May 18 at Lexington, Ky.
? The Tide women's 4x100 quartet of Quanesha Burks, Remona Burchell, Dominique Kimpel and Sarah Thomas was 34th on the 2014 World List with a 43.76 set on June 11 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Up Next
The Tide will host the Crimson Tide Invitational on Saturday, March 28, at the Sam Bailey Track & Field Complex.
Following the Tide
Get the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaTrack on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
