Last weekend while the Crimson Tide kicked off its 2010 football season with its A-Day scrimmage game, the women’s track team was further south, competing on enemy grounds, participating in the War Eagle Invitational at Auburn April 16 and 17.
The team found tremendous success in the field events over the weekend. The Tide had four women place in the top ten in the javelin. Junior Meghan Austin took first place in the event with a clearance of 145-0 feet.
Freshman Bekah Hoppis took fourth place with a throw of 141-9 feet to match a season best and junior Rachel Robbs rounded out the point scorers with a seventh place finish and a throw of 139-1 feet.
Sophomore Brittany Hines climbed into the top ten with a throw of 123-4 feet, just three inches off her season’s best throw.
Another field event that the Tide claimed first place in was the pole vault. Senior Katherine Strickland won the event with a clearance of 12-1 ½ feet. Freshmen Alexis Paine put up a personal best height of 11-1 ¾ to place fifth in this event also.
Not just settling for phenomenal performances in the field events, the team carried their dominance of the Tigers to the track where personal best times would be put up and names would be added to the school record list.
Leigh Gilmore did just this by finishing fourth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:29.36. This was a career-best time for the sophomore and placed her in the eighth fastest spot in the school’s history for the 1,500 meters.
Fellow sophomore Kelsey Johnson was able to add her name to the school’s fastest times list with a fourth place finish in the 10,000 meters and a time of 35:43.29. This is the seventh fastest time in school history in this event and the first time Johnson has competed in the 10,000 meters at the collegiate level.
Coming up, the women will head to Des Moines, Iowa, to compete in the Drake Relays April 22-24. Following this meet, the Tide will have one more open meet at Mississippi May 1 before the championship season begins. The Tide should expect to have a number of scorers in the SEC Championships scheduled May 13-16 at Knoxville, Tenn.
Junior Meghan Austin is ranked no. 2 in the SEC in javelin and senior Chealsea Taylor is ranked No. 1 in the heptathlon and No. 2 in the high jump.
