Alabama
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Alabama Women’s Track and Field Uses Complete Team Performance to Finish Seventh at NCAA Outdoor Championships
6/8/2019 10:23:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
With this weekend’s finishes, both the men and women placed in the top-10 at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships in the same season for the first time in school history
AUSTIN, Texas – The Alabama women used strong performances from all over the track to earn its first top-10 finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships since 1993, taking seventh with 29 points on Saturday at the Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
"I'm just very proud of the job that our women did this week, and really all season long," UA head coach Dan Waters said. "This was a special year for the women, finishing in the top-10 outdoors for the first time since the '90s, and finishing in the top-10 indoors and outdoors in the same season for just the fourth time. We got points everywhere this weekend and that really shows the kind of program we've built at Alabama."
With the women finishing seventh and the men taking 10th on Friday, it marked the first time since 1986 that the Crimson Tide men and women have finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the same year. This year's outdoor finishes followed an indoor season that saw the women also finish seventh and the men take eighth, giving both the UA men and women top-10 finishes at the indoor and outdoor national championships in the same season for the first time in school history.
"I think the way everyone stayed focused on our goals and found ways to get it done this year was pretty spectacular," Waters said. "A lot of things didn't go our way this year - there were a lot of things we had to overcome - but our athletes, coaches and staff stayed locked in, and because of that, we were able to make some Crimson Tide history."
Alabama and Florida closed 2019 as the only two schools to finish in the top-10 indoors and outdoors with both the men and the women this season.
The Tide women were sitting in tenth place with nine points to open the final day of competition, and proceeded to score in every event it competed in on the day.
Junior Esther Gitahi used a school-record 15:51.81 to fight off a late charge from the field and take third place in the 5,000 meters, closing out a spectacular first year with the Tide. Her new school mark gives her the top-four times in the 5,000 in school history after just one season.
Alabama closed out the night with the 4x400-meter relay, taking fifth place after overcoming a near NASCAR-esque pileup on the backstretch of the race's third leg that caused junior Mauricia Prieto to come to a near stop, swerving to avoid a stumbling runner just in front of her. Juniors Takyera Roberson, Katie Funcheon, Prieto and Natassha McDonald overcame the near disaster to post a time 3:27.12, clinching the Tide's spot in the top 10.
The high jump duo of junior Abigail Kwarteng and senior Stacey Destin both scored points for the Tide on the meet's final day. Kwarteng cleared four-straight heights on her first attempt, including a best clearance of 5-11.25 (1.81m) to take fourth. Destin also cleared 5-11.25 (1.81m), taking eighth place based on her overall series.
Sophomore Daija Lampkin, Prieto, junior Symone Darius and sophomore Tamara Clark opened the final day of competition by moving up a spot from the semifinals and taking fifth overall in the 4x100-meter relay with a season-best 43.00. The Tide's mark is the third fastest all-time for UA and gives Alabama four of the 10 fastest 4x100m relay marks in school history this season.
Senior Portious Warren opened the scoring for the Tide on Thursday, taking second in the shot put with a throw of 59-5 (18.11m). Just 14 months after Tommy John surgery, sophomore Samantha Zelden used a career-best throw of 173-7 (52.91m) to score in javelin throw on Friday, taking 8th place.
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Players Mentioned
