Alabama Men’s Track & Field No. 5, Women No. 8 Nationally This Week
4/2/2019 12:10:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
The Crimson Tide men and women are both ranked in the top-10 nationally in the first regular-season rankings of the outdoor season
NEW ORLEANS – The Alabama track and field men are No. 5 and the women are No. 8 in the first regular-season outdoor NCAA Division I Track & Field National Rating Index, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced this week.
The index, a points system maintained by the USTFCCCA, lists the Tide men with 214.77 points, which ranks second in the South region, while the women are credited with 199.35 points, also ranking second in the South region.
The Crimson Tide is coming off a huge weekend at the Florida Relays and the Stanford Invitational, with 11 performances ranked in the top-10 in NCAA Division I.
Alabama is led by senior Portious Warren, ranked No. 1 in the nation in the shot put with a school-record throw of 57-02.25 (17.43m), while classmate Haley Teel is third nationally after a career-best 56-02.5 (17.13m) throw this past weekend.
The Tide also leads the nation in the 4x200-meter relay after sophomore Daija Lampkin along with juniors Symone Darius and D'Jai Baker and senior Krystal Sparling combined for a scorching 1:31.80 at the Florida Relays.
The 4x400-meter relay of junior Takyera Roberson, junior Mauricia Prieto, sophomore Tamara Clark and junior Natassha McDonald came together to post a 3:28.60, the second fastest time in school history and just .04 of a second off the school record, which ranks them third in the nation. The 4x100-meter relay of Lampkin, Sparling, Prieto and Clark ran a 43.65 in Gainesville to rank seventh nationally.
Prieto is ranked second in the nation in the 200 meters after posting a career-best 22.86 over the weekend. Clark is ranked eighth in the 100 meters after posting an 11.30, while junior Esther Gitahi is eighth in the 1,500 meters after a career-best 4:18.40 last weekend.
On the men's side of the rankings, senior Gilbert Kigen ran a career-best 28:20.28 in Palo Alto, Calif., to rank third nationally in the 10,000 meters. Senior Kord Ferguson is ranked seventh in the discus (190-05/58.04m) and eighth in the shot put (63-09.5/19.44m) after a big weekend in Gainesville.
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Players Mentioned
