Alabama
SEC Championships
Alabama Track and Field Wins Two More Individual Titles on Friday, with the Men and Women both in Second Heading into Championship Saturday
5/14/2021 11:01:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
Isaac Odugbesan won the shot put, while Vincent Kiprop won the 3,000-meter steeplechase
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Alabama track and field had another big day at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday, winning two individual titles and earning three additional medals. The championships, which are being held on the Texas A&M campus, close out on Saturday.
Alabama is in second in both the men's and women's team races, with the men sitting on 51 points and the women with 47.
The Crimson Tide men won a pair of individual titles on Friday. Isaac Odugbesan posted the second-best throw in school history, winning the shot put title with a mark of 66-4.25 (20.22 meters). Three of his six throws would have been enough to win the title.
In the first 3,000-meter steeplechase of his Alabama career, Vincent Kiprop won his second individual title of these championships, running a 8:47.18 to take the win by three seconds. Kiprop, a graduate senior, won the 10,000 meters on Thursday, bumping his career total to four SEC outdoor titles.
Taylor Gorum used a career-best throw of 212-9 (64.86 meters) to not only break the 16-year-old Alabama school record, but also take the silver medal in the hammer throw. Nickolette Dunbar earned a bronze medal finish in the shot put after posting a PR of 56-6 (17.22m).Â
Leah Hanle closed out the evening by earning a bronze medal in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, shattering the school record with a PR of 9:55.26.
Head Coach Dan Waters Said
"Everyone really came out to compete today. We had so many career-best marks along with folks going out there and competing in events they don't usually compete, just trying to get as many points as they can for the team. I'm really proud of the fight this team has shown all season, and especially at these championships. I want everyone to go out there tomorrow and leave it all out on the track, if we do that, no matter where we finish, I'll be proud."
Scoring for the Crimson Tide
- Nickolette Dunbar (17.22m), Cherisse Murray (16.59m) and Taylor Gorum (16.32m) all scored in the shot put, taking third, fourth and sixth, respectively
- Dunbar's mark was a career-best effort
- In his first appearance in the high jump since April of 2018, Christian Edwards cleared a PR of 7-1.5 (2.17 meters) to take fifth in the event
- Jake Spotswood took fifth place in the decathlon after scoring 7,172 points over the 10 events, the sixth-best total in school history
- In addition to Isaac Odugbesan's title in the shot put, Chago Basso scored in the event, taking sixth with a mark of 61-2 (18.64 meters)
Coming Back for Finals
- Eliud Kipsang posted the second-fastest 1,500-meter time of his career, going 3:36.60, to earn the top seed heading into the finals and break the SEC Outdoor Championships and facility record
- Not long after Kipsang posted the top time in the prelims of the men's 1,500 meters, Amaris Tyynismaa did the same in the women's race, going 4:16.93 to set the track record
- Tamara Clark posted an 11.15 in the 100 meters to set a new track record and move on to Saturday as the No. 1 seed
- Robert Dunning went a 13.36 in the prelims of the 110-meter hurdles to earn a spot in the finals
- Natassha McDonald posted a career-best 51.13, the second-fastest time in prelims, to move on to Saturday
- McDonald's time is the third fastest in school history trailing Olympic champions Lillie Leatherwood and Pauline Davis
- Champion Allison ran a personal-best 45.55 in the 400 meters to advance to Saturday
Saturday for the Crimson Tide
- The final day of the championships gets underway at 2:30 p.m. with the men's discus and triple jump, while the women open at 5 p.m. with the discus
- The championships are slated to close at 8:30 p.m. with the men's 4x400-meter relay, followed by women's 4x400-meter relay
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
