Crimson Column presented by Mercedes-Benz
2/8/2018 10:22:00 AM | General
Career Development Event a Great Success
Our DRIVE for Success Career and Leadership Development program held another great event last week, hosting more than 90 sophomore student-athletes in Bryant-Denny Stadium for a Career Industries Night. Over 25 professionals from a variety of fields were part of six panels that catered to different career paths. We would like to thank those professionals for sharing their time, experience and expertise with our student-athletes and our Student-Athlete Enhancement staff for continuing to provide programing that helps set our young people up for success beyond their Crimson Tide careers.
Tennis Teams Undefeated After the First Month of the Season
Our men's and women's tennis teams are both off to their best starts in years. Head Coach George Husack's team currently stands at 9-0 for the first time since the 2003 season, while the women's team, under the direction of head coach Jenny Mainz, is also 9-0 for the best start since 2009. In addition, both teams are receiving votes in their respective top 25 polls. Keep up the great work!
Gearing Up for Baseball and Softball
Hard to believe, but our baseball and softball teams are nearing first pitch and have already been working hard at practice. Baseball, under the direction of first-year head coach Brad Bohannon, is one week away from opening its season, which will begin the weekend of February 16 with a three-game series against Valparaiso at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. In the meantime, fans are welcome to head over to The Joe in the afternoon to watch the team practice or scrimmage Tuesday through Sunday.
Our softball team, ranked 10th in the USA Softball poll and 11th in the NFCA poll, has one tough schedule coming up as it will take on 11 teams currently ranked in the top 25. The season begins for head coach Patrick Murphy's squad tonight in Mobile against South Alabama. Following nine games on the road, fans will get their first chance to see the team in Tuscaloosa on Friday, February 23 against Georgia State.
Swimming and Diving Readies for SEC Championships
Head coach Dennis Pursley and his squad are ready to suit up for the upcoming Southeastern Conference Championship, which will be held next week (Feb. 14-19) in College Station, Texas on the Texas A&M campus. Coach Pursley's first SEC Championships as our head coach was at Texas A&M in 2013, and it's amazing to see how far the program has come since then. You can follow the swimmers and divers on RollTide.com as we continue to climb the ladder in the SEC and nationally.
Jimenez Delgado Drafted
Congratulations to former soccer standout Celia Jimenez Delgado, who was selected by the Seattle Reign FC in the fourth round as the 36th overall pick of the 2018 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Draft! Celia was one of only four players selected from the Southeastern Conference and is the first player in Crimson Tide history to be drafted into the national league.
Making the Grade
In our last Crimson Column, I touted the success our teams had in the classroom last semester. This time around I wanted to commend the more than 430 student-athletes who earned a 3.0 or better grade point average in the fall. That total includes more than 100 student-athletes who earned 4.0s, earning a place on the President's List, and more than 175 who earned between a 3.5 and 3.99, which put them on the Dean's List. Those are all truly spectacular numbers and are a source of great pride for the Crimson Tide.
SEC Academic Honor Roll
We are very proud to note that Alabama Athletics led the way in terms of the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll that was released on Wednesday. A total of 106 Crimson Tide student-athletes from football, men's and women's cross country, soccer and volleyball earned the honor, making Alabama the only program with more than 100 honorees this year.
Academic Success on the National Stage
Our men's and women's swimming and diving teams were recognized by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) last week for their classroom prowess in the fall, with both earning team Scholar All-America honors. The men's team grade point average of 3.61 ranked first both among teams that finished in the top-25 last season and in the SEC and third among all NCAA Division I teams. Our women's 3.51 was third among SEC programs and 10th among teams that scored at last year's NCAA Championships. Congrats to Coach Denny Pursley and his squads on a fine showing!
Investing in Champions
Did you know that the average annual expense of each University of Alabama student-athlete is $126,935? That includes scholarships; travel expenses; our investments in buildings and facilities for training and competition; equipment, uniforms and supplies; nutritional expenses and general operating costs – everything except for salaries and benefits for our coaches and staff. While our ticket sales and other revenue streams support a large portion of this expense, we need your help to provide the margin of excellence required to maintain and build Alabama's standard of greatness. Help us by providing needed annual scholarship support with a gift to the Crimson Tide Scholarship Fund by visiting crimsontidefoundation.org/donate.
University Spotlight
The University of Alabama is celebrating Black History Month with a variety of events from lectures, films, tours and more that will be hosted throughout campus. Programming is underway and will conclude on Wednesday, Feb. 28.
#RollTideFriday
We're going Coast to Coast with this week's #RollTideFriday features. First, we've got a couple of good-looking snowmen submitted by Joshua Barkey in Charleston, South Carolina. Next photo takes us out West to Mount St. Helens with Tony and Deborah Smithson.
Joshua Barkey in Charleston, South Carolina
Tony and Deborah Smithson, Mount St. Helens
Remember to use the hashtag #RollTideFriday in your social posts and tweet your photos to me at @Greg_Byrne. We will select two photos to feature in each blog and add even more to our #RollTideFriday Fan Hub.
Upcoming Schedule of Events
View the list of upcoming events, broadcast information, start times and stat links on our composite calendar. (Note: All times are listed in Central Time.)
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