Alabama Track and Field Set for SEC Indoor Championships in College Station

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After practicing Thursday at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium, the Alabama men's and women's track and field teams are set to begin competition at the 2022 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships Friday afternoon in College Station, Texas on the Texas A&M campus.

It marks the second time this year that the Crimson Tide has made the trip to College Station, after a highly successful showing at the Charlie Thomas Invitational earlier this season.

Live coverage of the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships will stream live on SECN+ starting at 11:30 a.m. CT on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday. The broadcast team includes Dwight Stones, Dan O'Brien, Jill Montgomery and John Anderson. A tape-delayed broadcast will air Sunday at 7 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

The Tide opens competition Friday at 4:30 p.m. with the women's weight throw and starts Saturday off at 2 p.m. with the men's shot put.

Alabama Head Coach Dan Waters Said

"We're excited to get the championship season going. We had a strong regular season, breaking eight school records and setting ourselves up well for this time of year. The SEC Championships is always a tough meet, but we have several spots where we can make some real noise. We just have to go out there and compete hard in every event and make the most of our opportunities."

Alabama in the Rankings

Alabama heads into the SEC Indoor Championships with seven performances ranked in the top-10 nationally
Bobby Colantonio Jr. is second nationally, and No. 1 in the SEC, in the men's weight throw after posting a school-record 24.15 meters to open the season
Mercy Chelangat ran school-record times in the women's 3,000 meters (8:53.16) and 5,000 meters (15:34.82) to rank fourth and seventh nationally, respectively
Chelangat's time in the 3,000 meters ranks her No. 1 in the SEC heading into the championships
Eliud Kipsang is fourth nationally in the men's mile after posting a school-record 3:54.36
Hillary Cheruiyot, Khaleb McRae, Jacob Lamb and Kipsang combined to post a 9:22.43 in the distance medley relay, which ranks fourth nationally and fifth all-time on a record-eligible track
Isaac Odugbesan is fifth in the nation in the men's shot put after posting a school-record mark of 20.59 meters earlier this month
Odugbesan's mark makes him the No. 1 seed going into the SEC Championships
Emmanuel Ineh jumped 16.24 meters in the men's triple jump to rank 10^th in the nation

Rewriting the Record Book

Alabama has broken school records in eight different events already this season, including bettering the women's weight throw mark three times in 2022
Hillary Cheruiyot, Khaleb McRae, Jacob Lamb and Eliud Kipsang combined to run a 9:22.43 in the distance medley relay at the Arkansas Qualifier, shattering the school record
The Crimson Tide's time is also the fifth-fastest in collegiate history on a record-eligible track
Chelsea Igberaese broke the women's weight throw record three times this season, with the last time coming with a toss of 21.88 meters at the Charlie Thomas Invitational
Mercy Chelangat ran school-record times in the women's 3,000 meters (8:53.16) at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational and 5,000 meters (15:34.82) at the Samford Invitational
Kipsang also posted a school record in the men's mile, bettering his own record with a 3:54.36 at the Music City Challenge
Isaac Odugbesan set a school-record mark of 20.59 meters in the men's shot put at the Charlie Thomas Invitational
Bobby Colantonio Jr. used a career-best mark of 24.15 meters to better his own school record in the men's weight throw to open the season at the Blazer Invitational
Cheruiyot became the first member of the Alabama men's team to go under 7:50.00 in the 3,000 meters, breaking Crimson Tide legend's David Kimani's 2001 school record with a time of 7:48.74 at the Music City Challenge

Last Time

The Alabama men's and women's track and field teams combined to win 12 medals, set a championships record and broke three school marks at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships, in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Alabama men, who were ninth in 2020, powered through to a third-place finish with 72 points on the strength of six podium finishes in 2021, including a gold medal performance by Isaac Odugbesan in the shot put
The UA women took sixth with 56 points, paced by a win in the distance medley relay with an SEC Championships and UA record
The men more than doubled their point total from 2020 and jumped six places in the team standings, posting their best finish since winning the title in 2018

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