By Zackary Al-Khateeb
The Alabama men’s track and field team will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., Wednesday to participate in the Sea Ray Relays.
Alabama has exploded out of the gates in its 2010 outdoor season, garnering a medley of personal bests and school records.
The Tide began the outdoor season at home, hosting the Alabama Relays. The team performed well, despite sometimes competing in unfavorable conditions. During that meet, sophomore Moses Kiptoo turned in a time of 14:22.57 in the 5,000 meter, winning the race and achieving the second best time of the year in the 5,000 meter.
The Tide then traveled to the two-day Florida Relays on Friday and Saturday, where the track and field team posted a number of record-breaking times. Junior Fred Samoei competed in the 800 meter run, clocking in at 1:48.44, the seventh best in school history, as well as fourth best in the nation this year. Another junior, Julius Bor, ran in the 1,500 meter, and clocked in at 3:41.11, posting the fastest time of the year, as well as second best in school history.
Meanwhile, true freshman Kirani James competed in the CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands for his native Grenada, setting a new school record in the 400-meter at 45.02 seconds. Tide coach Harvey Glance said he’s pleased with the way his team has competed so far.
“We’ve had one great season,” Glance said. “Right now we’ve got one of the leading guys in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 and high jump, all in the top 20 [in the nation]. In five or six events, we’re at the very top. It’s been a fine season.”
Glance also noted how his team’s recent success in earlier relays has affected everyone’s confidence.
“[Competing so well] is certainly a confidence builder,” Glance said. “I had a meeting about a month ago and challenged the guys. They apparently took the meeting to heart.”
Sophomore Aaron Stockstell, who is ranked among some of the best in school history in the 800 meter, said much of the same.
“We’ve opened up real well,” Stockstell said. “There isn’t an event we haven’t run where we haven’t done the best we can.”
As the Tide has just finished competition in the Florida Relays, Glance said he wouldn’t work his team as hard as usual for the upcoming Sea Ray Relays.
“I think the first two meets were the most crucial,” Glance said. “We can’t go three straight weeks in a row like that. We’ll back off on a lot of the guys this week and allow them to get a little work in.”
Despite this, Glance said he still expects everyone to bring a lot of energy to the relays this week.
“Anytime [you compete against] SEC schools, you want to compete well,” Glance said. “Right now we want to develop a championship attitude. Our main goal is to at least bring a certain amount of energy to the table, and team spirit.”
As Alabama continues its hot streak, some athletes said they have noticed an increase in support from fans.
“We’ve had a lot more support than we’ve ever had, and that’s a part of our early success,” Stockstell said. “I’d just like to thank everybody. It’s a good feeling right now.”
