University of Alabama all-American high jumper Krystle Schade (Sunrise, Fla.) notched her third consecutive victory of the 2013 indoor season and pole vaulter Alexis Paine set a school record at the Indiana Relays as the Crimson Tide closed out competition on Saturday with several strong individual performances.
Schade’s event victory marked the sixth of the competition by Alabama athletes after Crimson Tide athletes won five events on Friday at the meet that featured competitors from more than 30 schools from across the nation. Schade cleared the winning height of 6 feet, 1 1/4 inches (1.86 meters) on her first attempt, out dueling Vanderbilt’s Brionne Williams who missed all three of her tries at the same height.
In the women’s invitational pole vault, Paine (Mobile, Ala.) set an Alabama school record with a clearance of 13-5 1/4 (4.10m) on the way to a third-place finish in the pole vault. Paine’s personal-best performance surpassed Lynda Cooper’s 13-1 1/2 height cleared in 2009. Paine bettered her previous best in the vault (12-11 3/4) by 5 1/2 inches.
Alabama also had strong performances in both the men’s and women’s weight throw. In the women’s invitational weight throw, Nia Barnes (West Orange, N.J.) was fourth at 57-11 1/4 (17.66 meters) while teammate Lee Stowers (Warwick, R.I.) finished in fifth at 57-7 1/2 (17.56m).
Indiana State’s Felisha Johnson won the competition with an impressive toss of 70-10 (21.59 meters).
In the men’s invitational weight throw, Alabama’s Elias Hakansson (Halmstad, Sweden) was fourth with a best of 64-10 1/2 (19.77m). Hakansson threw with more consistency on Saturday, notching four of his five legal throws of more than 19 meters.
Jonathan Reid (Kingston, Jamaica) won the triple jump late Friday evening, closing out a Friday in which five Crimson Tide athletes won events. Reid bested a field of 10 competitors by producing his best effort of the night on his second attempt with a leap of 50-7 1/2 (15.43 meters). He beat out Rex Parker (competing unattached) who had a best of 49-8 1/2 (15.15m) and Illinois’ Branden Tanthavong who was third with a distance of 49-7 1/4 (15.12m). Alabama’s George Freiberger was sixth with a jump of 46-10 3/4 (14.29m).
