Track and Field Travels to Bloomington for Indiana Relays
1/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
The University of Alabama track and field teams will travel to Bloomington, Ind., this weekend for the annual Indiana Relays, hosted by Indiana University at the historic Gladstein Fieldhouse. The two-day event begins on Friday, Jan. 29 and concludes on Saturday, Jan. 30. Action will get underway on Friday at 5 p.m. CT while Saturday is set for a 10 a.m. CT start time.
The Alabama men's and women's track & field teams had a number of impressive victories and performances at the first Conference Clash Meet, which was a battle between the SEC and the other four Power 5 conferences, hosted by the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala. The Tide contributed 10 points on the men's side, the most of any team on Friday, and two points on the women's side on the first day of competition. Leading the way was junior Jeremiah Green, who triple jumped his way to victory with a mark of 52-0 (15.85m) to score five points for the SEC. Sophomore Daniel Haugh threw a season best in the weight throw with a toss of 68-5 1/4 (20.86m) to place third and senior Justin Fondren was the runner-up in the high jump competition, producing a season best of 7-0 1/2 (2.15). On day two, the Crimson Tide scored in a total of six events with four of those coming from the field events. Junior Quanesha Burks had an outstanding performance in the long jump, breaking the indoor school record and tying the facility record with an astounding jump of 22-0 1/4 (6.71m). Freshman Stacey Destin cleared 5-9 3/4 (1.77m), tying for second in the high jump. With only one missed attempt, freshman Will Herrscher cleared the bar at 16-2 3/4 (4.95m) to place second in the pole vault. Other top performances of the weekend included junior Vanessa Clerveaux, who scored in the 60-meter hurdles with a sixth place finish; junior Allison Gregg, who ran the fastest 5,000 meter time of any SEC runner (17:31.55); and sophomore Haley Teel, who threw a personal best of 51-7 3/4 (15.74m) for fourth place in the shot put.
After two great weeks of competition of the 2016 indoor season, the men's and women's track and field teams hold spots inside the top 20 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Computer Rankings. The men are ranked No. 17 and the women landed at the No. 15 spot, a huge jump in the ranks since their preseason No. 40 position.
NCAA long jump champion Quanesha Burks is currently ranked second in the world on the 2016 indoor long jump list. Her mark of 22-0 1/4 (6.71m) is only four centimeters off the current world leader, Janay DeLoach Soukup from the United States. Her jump at the Birmingham CrossPlex broke the indoor school record and tied the facility record. Burks now owns both the indoor and outdoor long jump records for the Crimson Tide. On the Monday after her record-breaking performance, she received a letter from the Olympic Track Committee regarding her potential spot on the U.S. national team after her mark passed the Olympic A Standard of 6.70 meters. Burks already surpassed the Olympic standard for the 2016 Olympic year with her jump of 22-1 1/2 at the 2015 SEC Outdoor Championships in Starkville, Miss.
Alabama currently has six men and four women that are ranked in the top 25 nationally in their respective events. Junior Robbie Farnham-Rose is ranked 24th in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:08.66 and senior Justin Fondren is tied for 17th with a mark of 7-0 1/2 (2.15m) in the high jump. After leaping 24-7 (7.49m) at the Commodore Invitational, senior Josh McCullan is ranked 21st in the nation in the long jump while teammate Jeremiah Green's jump of 52-0 (15.85m) puts him at the 12th spot on the triple jump national list. Junior shot putter Kyle Felpel rounds out the list of Tide male athletes in the top 25, ranked 20th in the shot put with a throw of 60-2 1/2 (18.35m). On the women's squad, junior pole vaulter Lakan Taylor is ranked 23rd with her clearance of 13-5 1/4 (4.10m), and fellow junior Vanessa Clerveaux is tied for 21st in the women's 60-meter hurdles (8.34). Carrying over great momentum from her first cross country season competing for the Tide, redshirt freshman Rachael Reddy currently holds the No. 14 spot in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:30.27. Junior Quanesha Burks holds a spot in the top 25 of two events, ranking 12th in the 60 meters (7.33) while leading the nation in the long jump.
Alabama's throwers shined in Bloomington last year, as Nathan Karr won the shot put title with a personal best toss of 54-8 1/4 (16.67m). In the invitational portion of the shot put, Kyle Felpel finished as the runner-up with his mark of 61-1 1/4 (18.61m) while Hayden Reed placed fifth. Haley Teel took third place in the shot put to represent the Tide women, tossing 47-11 3/4 (14.62m).
"This is going to be another full weekend of competition of us. We're excited to have the football guys out there competing for us for the first time this indoor season. With this being our third meet, we are really focusing on consistent improvement across the board. We like where we are in a lot of events, but we need to continue to work hard and improve. Other events we haven't quite reached our potential, and this weekend gives us another chance to do just that."
The Tide will send competitors to Albuquerque, N.M., to take part in the New Mexico Classic & Multis Feb. 5-6.
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.
