Alabama
SEC Outdoor Championships
Alabama Track and Field Wins Three Gold and Five Medals Overall to Open SEC Outdoor Championships
5/13/2022 12:28:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
The Crimson Tide opened the day with a pair of medals in the hammer throw, added a medal in the women’s javelin and closed the night by winning double gold in the 10,000 meters
OXFORD, Miss. – Alabama closed day one of the 2022 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships, being held at the Old Miss Track & Field Complex this week, by sweeping the 10,000 meter titles, after opening the day with a pair of medals in the hammer throw and another in the women's javelin.
Bobby Colantonio Jr., the 2022 NCAA and SEC weight throw champion used a career-best throw of 72.59 to win the Crimson Tide's first SEC title in the men's hammer to open the UA men's championship scoring.
Mercy Chelangat defended her 10,000 meter title from 2021, running a 33:15.66 following a nearly two-hour weather delay. After running with the lead group for the vast majority of the race, Victor Kiprop stepped on the gas over the last two laps to win the men's 10,000 meters by more than four seconds with a time of 29:16.07.
In addition to its gold medalist, the Tide earned a pair of additional top-three finishers, including Kassidy Gallagher (women's hammer) and Samantha Zelden (women's javelin).
Alabama advanced four men and one woman to Saturday's finals in the sprints and hurdles, including Corde Long (men's 400-meter hurdles), Jacob Lamb (men's 800 meters), Amari Brown (women's 200 meters), Demetrius Jackson (men's 200 meters) and Tarsis Orogot (men's 200 meters).
The Crimson Tide men are in first place after day one with 29 points, while the women are in second, one point out of first, with 22 points.
Head Coach Dan Waters Said
"This was a good first day for us on both the men's and women's side of the meet. There was adversity with the weather delay, but I think we handled that pretty well and stayed focused on scoring as many points as we could. There's still a long way to go, but we're off to a good start. We're proud of Bobby, Mercy and Victor for winning titles in the toughest conference in the country. We're also proud of Kassidy and Samantha for making it to the podium and of Hillary (Cheruiyot) and Kieran (McKeag) for scoring important points for us. Now we just have to come back tomorrow and stay after it."
Day One Crimson Tide Champions
- Bobby Colantonio Jr. followed up his indoor SEC and NCAA weight throw titles with gold in the hammer throw, the Tide's first event of the men's championships, with a career-best toss of 72.59 meter to finish two-meters ahead of the field
- Colantonio Jr.'s title is the first SEC hammer throw title for the Crimson Tide
- Colantonio Jr.'s winning effort was his fifth toss of 70+ meters in a row on the day, with his fifth and final throw of 72.59 meters ranking him second all-time at UA
- Mercy Chelangat won her second SEC 10,000 meters title in a row, running a time 33:15.66 to finish nearly a minute ahead of the field
- The 10,000 meter title was Chelangat's third SEC distance championship of 2021-22 after taking first at the SEC Cross Country Championships in the fall and winning the SEC Indoor 5,000 meters in February
- Victor Kiprop won the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 29:16.07, more than four seconds ahead of the field
- Kiprop's title gives Alabama five men's SEC 10,000-meter championships since 2017
Day One Crimson Tide Medalists
- Kassidy Gallagher opened the meet for the Crimson Tide by posting a career-best 61.73 meters in her first throw of the women's hammer, which held up through the next five rounds to give her a bronze medal finish
- Samantha Zelden opened with a season-best throw of 52.16 meters, which held up for the bronze medal in the women's javelin
Day One Crimson Tide Scorers
- Kieran McKeag took fourth place in the men's hammer with a toss of 69.60 meters on his fifth throw
- Hillary Cheruiyot took fifth in the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 29.44.82
Moving on to Finals
- Corde Long dropped nearly a second off his career-best time in the 400-meter hurdles, going 49.98 to rank third all-time at UA and take the second seeded heading into Saturday's final
- Jacob Lamb ran a huge career-best time of 1:46.51 in the prelims of the men's 800 meters, making him the second seed heading into Saturday's final and ranking him fourth all-time at UA
- Amari Brown ran a career-best 23.12 to earn a spot in the final of the women's 200 meters and rank her tenth all-time at UA
- Demetrius Jackson (20.47) and Tarsis Orogot (20.61) both advanced to the finals of the men's 200 meters
- Jackson's 20.47 is a career-best and ranks him ninth all-time at UA
Up Next
- The SEC Outdoor Championships continue Friday, with the Crimson Tide getting things underway at 4:30 p.m. with the men's long jump
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