Alabama
Crimson Tide Invitational
Alabama Track & Field Hosts Crimson Tide Invitational presented by Beynon Sports Thursday and Friday
4/10/2019 3:11:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
The Crimson Tide will host the meet at the Sam Bailey Track & Field Stadium, with Thursday’s events getting underway at 6:30 p.m., while Friday’s action starts at 9 a.m.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama hosts the 2019 Crimson Tide Invitational presented by Beynon Sports this Thursday and Friday at the Sam Bailey Track and Field Stadium. Thursday's events get underway at 6:30 p.m. CT, while Friday's action starts at 9 a.m. CT with the field events, while the running events start at noon. Admission is free.
"We're super excited about the home meet," UA head coach Dan Waters said "We're going to have a lot of our people competing this weekend and we're bringing in a lot of great teams, so it should be a really fun meet to watch."
Both the Alabama men and women are ranked in the top-10 nationally this week, with the men checking in at No. 5 and the women at No. 8. Waters' squads are also coming off an indoor season that saw the women finished seventh and the men eighth at last month's NCAA Championships.
Florida State, Nebraska, Memphis and Mississippi State and Southern Miss are among the teams that will take part in the meet, along with more than 75 Alabama student-athletes who will be in action, including more than a dozen who are ranked in the top-10 nationally in either individual or relay events.
Senior Portious Warren and junior Mauricia Prieto lead the way for the women's team and are both ranked second in the nation in their specialties. Warren is second in the shot put after bettering her own school record at the Florida Relays with a throw of 57-02.25 (17.43m), while Prieto posted a career-best 22.86 in the 200 meters at the same meet.
"This being my last home meet competing for the Crimson Tide, I just want to go out there and do everything to the best of my ability," Warren said. "I want to give the home fans something to be proud of and something to cheer about."
The Tide women also have two relays ranked in the top-10 nationally in the 4x100, while the Tide's 4x400-meter relay of senior Takyera Roberson, Prieto, sophomore Tamara Clark and junior Natassha McDonald, is ranked third in the nation after clocking a 3:28.60 at the Florida Relays, just .04 off the school record.
"I think because we are all determined to run fast and to do great on the relay, it's just going to come," Roberson said of the school record. "I don't think that we're really trying to chase it. We're just trying to execute and whatever the outcome, it's what we worked for."
On the men's side, junior Shelby McEwen and senior Gilbert Kigen are setting the pace for the Tide. McEwen is slated to make his outdoor debut this week after winning the NCAA indoor high jump championship last month.
"On both men's and women's side, we have been working hard and we have been working for this all semester," McEwen said. "We spent the fall training hard and it's a big deal for both of us being up in the top 10. We are looking forward to this weekend and getting a lot done. There's a lot of people coming out to compete and have fun."
Kigen ran a career-best 28.20.28 in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational, which ranks him third nationally this week.
"For me (this weekend) is going to be one of the important races," Kigen said. "I'm excited for it and to just run at home. We will have our friends and fans and their excitement will give us confidence."
Thursday gets underway with the women's hammer throw at 6:30 p.m., followed by the men's hammer throw at 8 p.m. The women's and men's 1,500 meters get going at 9 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. respectively, while the 5,000Â meters start at 9:30 p.m. for the women and 9:45 p.m. for the men.
Friday's events start at 9 a.m., with the women's discus followed by the men's, while the 4x100-meter relays get the running events underway at noon.
"We've worked the schedule out in such a way that you're going to be able to see a lot of great track and field in a small amount of time," Waters said. "There's going to be several things going around the track at any given time."
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Players Mentioned
