Alabama Track & Field Set for NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama track and field is set to travel back to the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala., for the fourth and final time this season. The Crimson Tide is sending 11 athletes to compete in the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships March 11-12.

The Tide is slated to compete in nine individual events and the men will race in the distance medley relay (DMR) during this weekend's NCAA Indoor Championships.

Bobby Colantonio Jr. and Chelsea Igberaese will compete in the men's and women's weight throw, respectively. Isaac Odugbesan will rep the Tide in the men's shot put. Emmanuel Ineh will compete in both the long and triple jumps. Mercy Chelangat will race both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Khaleb McRae will run in the 400 meters and Eliud Kipsang will compete in the mile.

Hillary Cheruiyot, Jace Jones, Kipsang, Jacob Lamb, Leander Forbes and McRae make up the men's DMR pool.

Alabama Head Coach Dan Waters Said

"We've competed at the Birmingham Crossplex multiple times this season and we've actually gone up there and practiced a couple times, too. So, we kind of know how the track runs, we know how the warmup works and we know what the ring feels like and what the runways are all about. I think it gives us a slight homefield advantage and there is a true home field advantage in every sport, including track and field, so we feel like it does set us up well in terms of being comfortable and feeling like we know what's going on. We'll be competing on the big stage in our backyard. We're going to have a lot of friends and family in the stands and that will make our people feel relaxed and good."

The Schedule

The entire meet will stream live on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app
The two-day championships start Friday, March 11 and concludes Saturday, March 12
Alabama starts day one of the championships at 4 p.m. CT with the men's mile, weight throw and long jump and finish with the women's 5,000 meters
The Tide opens the championships second and final day with the final of the men's mile at 4 p.m. CT, and caps off the meet with the women's 3,000 meters at 8 p.m. CT

The Crimson Tide's Championships Crew

Mercy Chelangat will make her NCAA Indoor Championships debut, although this is her third time qualifying for the national meet after the 2020 meet was canceled and Chelangat focused on the cross country championships in 2021
Chelangat will compete in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters in Birmingham after taking gold in the women's 5,000 meters at the SEC Indoor Championships while also setting the Alabama school record in the 5,000 meters and 3,000 meters during the 2022 season
Eliud Kipsang, who set the Crimson Tide record in the mile during the regular season with a time 3:54.36, was second in the event at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships with a time of 3:55.93
Chelsea Igberaese took bronze in the SEC Indoor Championship in the weight throw, where she bettered the school record for the fourth time this season
Isaac Odugbesan claimed his third SEC shot put title, and second indoor championship, with a school-record toss of 20.71 meters at the SEC Indoor Championships
Odugbesan took 11th in the shot put at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships
Bobby Colantonio Jr. bagged the SEC weight throw title at the SEC Indoor Championships and posted a career-best toss of 24.15 at the Birmingham Crossplex in January, which ranks him eighth all-time collegiately
Coming off a preseason injury, Colantonio Jr., still managed to finish fifth at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships in the weight throw
Khaleb McRae ran a season-best 46.10 in the 400 meters at the SEC Championships, ranking him fifth all-time at Alabama
Emmanuel Ineh has posted leaps of 7.87 meters in the long jump and 16.24 meters in the triple jump this season, ranking him third and seventh, respectively, all-time at Alabama
The distance medley relay of Hillary Cheruiyot, McRae, Jacob Lamb, and Kipsang destroyed the school record in mid-February, running a 9:22.43, ranking Alabama fifth all-time collegiately in the DMR on a record-eligible track
Cheruiyot was named the men's SEC Indoor Freshman Runner of the Year by a vote of the league's coaches

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