Byrne Notice presented by Mercedes-Benz
1/17/2020 12:18:00 PM | General
Basketball Picks Up a Pair of Wins Against Auburn
Our men's and women's basketball teams both earned wins this week over Auburn, beginning with the women on Sunday, who posted a 75-48 victory at Auburn Arena. The 27-point win marked the largest margin of victory in program history at Auburn. The men then followed that up on Wednesday with an 83-64 win in Coleman Coliseum, handing the fourth-ranked Tigers their first loss of the season. It was our first victory over a team ranked in the Associated Press top four since defeating No. 1 Stanford in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. A job well done on the court by our teams and a job well done by our fans for coming out and providing an outstanding home court atmosphere on Wednesday. Your next opportunity to come out and cheer on our men's team is right around the corner on Saturday when we host Missouri at 2:30 p.m. The women hit the road for a matchup at No. 24 Tennessee on Monday before returning to Tuscaloosa for Thursday's 7 p.m. tip against 12th-ranked Texas A&M.
Swimming & Diving Sweeps Florida State to Open New Year
Congrats to the swimming & diving teams for getting a sweep over Florida State to start off the New Year. Our men's and women's squads traveled down to Tallahassee last week, with our women getting a 180-120 win against the Seminoles, while the men pulled out a tight meet, 156-138. All-American sophomore Kensey McMahon was named the SEC Swimmer of the Week after winning all three of her events on Saturday. Overall, we won all four relays and 17 individual races against FSU.
Indoor Track & Field off to Solid Start
Our men's and women's track & field teams got off to solid starts indoors at the UAB Blazer Invitational, highlighted by Tamara Clark's performance in the 300-meter dash. Her time of 36.56 is the fifth-fastest performance in NCAA history, and she became the third-fastest performer all-time. Joining Tamara on the top of the podium in their respective events were Chago Basso (men's shot put), Bobby Colantonio Jr. (men's weight throw), Paul Selden (men's 5000 meter), Robert Dunning (men's 60-meter hurdles), Leander Forbes (men's 500-meter dash) and the men's 4x400-meter relay made up of Champion Allison, Robert, Joshua St. Clair and Leander. Congratulations to all, and best of luck this weekend at the Samford Invitational.
Opening the Gymnastics Home Slate with No. 1 Oklahoma
The gymnastics team opens its home schedule Friday with defending NCAA champion and current No. 1 Oklahoma. With our ladies ranked No. 9 in the nation, it's another top-10 matchup in Coleman Coliseum. It will also be our annual Capes and Crowns meet, with fans having the opportunity to take their picture with their favorite princesses and superheroes prior to the meet, which starts at 7:45 p.m. CT and will air live on ESPN2.
Tennis Begins Dual Match Season
Our men's and women's tennis teams will begin their 2020 dual match seasons this weekend, hosting a combined six matches indoors at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility. The men will kick off a pair of doubleheaders with UAB on Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by Chattanooga at 6 p.m. Monday's slate features a match with Samford at 1 p.m. and then North Alabama at 6 p.m. The women will host Kennesaw State and Alabama A&M in a Sunday doubleheader, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
Football Home-and-Home Scheduled with Georgia Tech
Our football program will renew its series with Georgia Tech when the two teams meet for home-and-homes in 2030 and 2031. This is now our eighth non-conference home-and-home with the additions of Texas (2022 & 2023), Wisconsin (2024 & 2025), Florida State (2025 & 2026), West Virginia (2026 & 2027), Notre Dame (2028 & 2029), Oklahoma (2032 & 2033) and Virginia Tech (2034 & 2035).
The Crimson Standard Surpasses Halfway Point of $600 Million Fundraising Goal
It was announced last week that we are more than halfway to our $600 million fundraising goal for The Crimson Standard. In less than two years since launching the 10-year capital initiative, over $309 million in gifts and pledges has been received. I want to take a moment to recognize and thank each supporter who has contributed to The Crimson Standard, which is designed to comprehensively elevate the student-athlete experience, recruiting efforts and the overall game-day experience for our fans. We have made tremendous construction progress at Rhoads Stadium, Bryant-Denny Stadium and the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility. These improvements will transform our facilities and position our programs at the top nationally. We are extremely grateful to each and every person who has supported The Crimson Standard because this would not be possible without your generosity and support.
For more information on how to become involved with The Crimson Standard or secure seats in the new premium areas of Bryant-Denny Stadium, contact the Crimson Tide Foundation at ctf@ia.ua.edu or 205-348-9727.
Making the Grade
The Crimson Tide enjoyed another impressive semester in the classroom, with 14 of our 17 programs posting a 3.2-or-better team grade point average in the fall. In all, our student-athletes combined for a 3.23 GPA. We had six programs - women's golf, gymnastics, soccer, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving and women's tennis - earn a 3.5-or-better team GPA, with women's tennis leading all programs with a 3.70. We are extremely proud of the balance our student-athletes achieve between academic and athletic excellence and this past semester was another great example of their success.
Emerging Tide Leaders Retreat
The Crimson Tide's Student-Athlete Enhancement team started out the new semester with a retreat for our Emerging Tide Leaders initiative last Sunday, in partnership with Growing Leaders out of Atlanta. Guest speaker Sterling Brown led the workshop, focusing in on leadership with purpose, which is a great topic for our young people. Sometimes we get so caught up in getting where we're going, that we lose focus of our direction and our why. As influencers of culture, our student-athlete leaders were challenged to assess their actions and encouraged to lead intentionally. Emerging Tide Leaders is an outstanding program that helps give our next generation of leaders the tools to not only help themselves be better, but their teams as well.
University Spotlight
The 2020 Realizing the Dream Banquet and Concert are scheduled for Friday, January 17 and Sunday, January 19, respectively, in celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Laura Ling, award-winning journalist and author, will speak at the Legacy Banquet, while the featured guest for the concert is gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds.
#RollTideFriday
We crossed the Atlantic for this week's #RollTideFriday features that come to us from Kim Kovacs at Loch Ness in Scotland and Paul Boykin in Killarney National Park in Ireland.
Kim Kovacs
Paul Boykin
Remember to use the hashtag #RollTideFriday in your social posts and tweet your photos to me at @Greg_Byrne. We will select two photos to feature in each blog and add even more to our #RollTideFriday Fan Hub. Let's keep these great photos coming!
Schedule of Events
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