Alabama
NCAA East Preliminary
Alabama Track & Field Opens NCAA East Preliminary Action Thursday in Jacksonville
5/22/2019 4:07:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
The Crimson Tide qualified more than 30 student-athletes for the East Preliminary which serves as the gateway for the upcoming NCAA Championships
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Alabama track and field teams are set to compete at the 2019 NCAA East Preliminary on the University of North Florida campus May 23-25 at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
The meet begins at 12 p.m. ET Thursday and Friday and 2:45 p.m. on Saturday. The NCAA East Preliminary will be streamed live on FloTrack each day and will require a subscription to view.
The top-48 declared student-athletes from each region (East and West) in each individual event will contend for 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships berths this weekend at one of two regional sites. With the East in Jacksonville, the West Region will converge on Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.
Qualifying to the NCAA Championships' final site at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, from June 5-8, is accomplished through performances in the Preliminary rounds of competition. A total of 12 competitors in each individual event and 12 teams in each relay event advance from each Preliminary site, for a total of 24.
"At this point in the season, we have to be ready each time up," UA head coach Dan Waters said. "The key to the NCAA Preliminary is survive and advance. We have to out there and do our very best to get as many people to Austin and the NCAA Championships as we can."
The Crimson Tide comes into the weekend with both teams ranked in the top-12 nationally.
Alabama has 36 student-athletes competing this weekend, including 20 women and 16 men. That tally includes senior Gilbert Kigen (men's 5,000 and 10,000 meters), senior Portious Warren (women's shot put) and junior Shelby McEwen (men's high jump) who are ranked No. 1 in their respective events in the East. Overall, the Tide has 24 performances that rank in the 12 of at the NCAA East Preliminary in their respective events.
Warren is ranked No. 1 in the nation and No. 8 in the world this season in the shot put after posting a school-record 61-0.75 (18.61m) at the LSU Invitational. She is also one of six Crimson Tide student-athletes ranked in the top-10 nationally. Senior Kiara Williams is sixth in the long jump and Haley Teel, who earned her master's degree this semester is 10th in the shot put.
On the men's side, McEwen, the defending NCAA Indoor high jump champion, is currently fifth in the outdoor high jump. Kigen is fifth in the 10,000 meters and 10th in the 5,000 meters, while senior Kord Ferguson is seventh in the discus.
This weekend follows the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., where both the Tide men and women finished fifth, collecting 10 medals, including three golds.
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaTrack on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
