Alabama
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Strong Alabama Squad Opens NCAA Track & Field Outdoor Championships Competition Wednesday
6/4/2019 6:56:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
A total of 23 members of the Crimson Tide earned a spot at the national championships
AUSTIN, Texas – After two practice days at Mike A. Myers Stadium, the Alabama track and field team opens competition at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships Wednesday. The Crimson Tide has 23 student-athletes set to compete, including 19 who qualified in individual events.
"This is a group that has only been getting better and better all season long and we expect to have some strong performances," UA head coach Dan Waters said. "This week is what we have been working toward all season, the way we cycle through training, everything has been designed for us to be good at this meet, and here we are, so we hope to be at our very best."
The Crimson Tide men are up first with three finals and two semifinals on the meet's first day. The women's side of the meet gets underway Thursday. The men's championship will then finish up on Friday, while the women close thigs out on Saturday.
"Having the championships split up like they are is nice for us because we get to concentrate on one gender at a time," UA head coach Dan Waters said. "We obviously have a lot going on every day, so having the men on Wednesday and Friday and the women on Thursday and Saturday allows us to focus on one team at a time."
One major difference heading into this year's championships is the location. After six years in a row in Eugene, Oregon, the meet is in Austin, Texas this year and next, which brings with it a definite environmental shift.
"It's obviously hot here in Austin, but that's the way we like it," Waters said. "We train in the heat, we understand what it's all about. Our best performances are always coming in the warmer weather. Even our distances kids are more acclimated to running in the heat, so it should be an advantage for us."
The Crimson Tide men are slated to open the meet with freshman Bobby Colantonio Jr., in the hammer throw. The start time for the hammer throw, currently set for 2 p.m., is fluid as are most of Wednesday's events due to weather expected in the area.
In addition to the hammer, the UA men will compete in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles (junior Robert Dunning), shot put (senior Kord Ferguson and freshman Chago Basso) and the 10,000 meters (senior Gilbert Kigen). Overall, the men qualified six for the championships, with nine scoring opportunities.
"The majority of those we have here on the men's side either won at regionals or were in the top three, so that's an opportunity for us to do some really good things that should equate to some points if we do things correctly," Waters said. "The nice thing is that we have some veterans who have been here before and know what to do and can get it done at a very high level."
Alabama's women have a full slate on Thursday, with three individual semifinals, two relay semifinals and three finals. The UA women are slated to open competition with the semifinals of the 4x100-meter relay and close day one with the 4x400-meter relay semifinals. In addition to both relays, the Tide women qualified for the national championships in the sprints, throws, jumps and distance events.
"There's a lot of opportunities for us on the women's side this week," Waters said. "The nice thing about the region meet, is that we felt like we advanced really well and gave ourselves the best opportunity to be successful here at the national championships."
Thursday's schedule includes two events where the Tide qualified three women - the 200 meters (sophomores Tamara Clark and Daija Lampkin and junior Mauricia Prieto) and the shot put (seniors Haley Teel and Portious Warren and sophomore Nickolette Dunbar). Warren, the SEC and NCAA East Preliminary champion in the shot put, is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the event coming into the weekend. The Tide will also compete in the women's 100 meters (Clark), 400 meters (juniors Natassha McDonald and Katie Funcheon), javelin (sophomore Samantha Zelden) and long jump (senior Kiara Williams) on Thursday.
The Tide has 17 women at the meet with 16 opportunities to score, the second most of any team at the meet, one behind Arkansas. The UA women's total includes 13 who qualified in individual events and four who are part of a potent relay pool.
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Players Mentioned
