The No. 22 University of Alabama men’s track and field team hosted the Alabama Relays, March 24-27 at Sam Bailey Track and Field Stadium to kick off the outdoor season.
Although the Crimson Tide dealt with setbacks, including weather delays on Saturday, they managed to put together a solid opening meet.
“[The team] did extremely well, I’m really proud of everybody. There’s not one single athlete I’m disappointed in.” head coach Harvey Glance said. “I’m real proud of how they fought and stay focused.”
Battling through weather delays on Saturday, the Tide came out on a hot start and posted impressive numbers against solid competition.
In the 400-meter race, Alabama placed two runners in the top-ten, with senior Fred Samoei finishing fourth with a time of 49.10 and junior Bobby Onyeukwu posting to a time of 49.91, which put him in tenth place.
Junior Terrell Mickens finished eleventh in the 800-meter with a time of 1:55.87 and senior Emmanuel Bor dashed to a third place finish in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:53.43. He was followed shortly by fellow senior Julius Bor who finished eleventh at 3:59.17.
Junior Austin Duckworth earned a top-five finish as his time of 15:17.42 put him in fourth place in the 5,000 meters.
The No. 10 hurdler in the region, Freshman Dwayne Extol, finished third in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 52. 78. Being his first race of the season, this performance was one of the best surprises for Glance on the weekend.
“It’s his first race of the season, and we don’t have a lot of chances to practice because we were focusing so much on indoor,” he said. “To have him come out and do what he did was very very strong.”
Rounding out the first day for the Tide, senior Michael Hughes finished fifth in the pole vault with a height of 15” 11’.
Along with the weather, the Tide had to deal with a leg injury to star sprinter, sophomore Kirani James, who was unable to run this weekend. Although he didn’t run, Glance said he could have ran this week, but with major events such as the SEC Championships, Regional Championships and National Championships coming up, Glance decided to hold him out and be “smart rather than dumb.”
He added that James should be ready to go in a couple of weeks.
On the final day of the event Alabama continued to showcase their talent, as they finished first in two events.
Freshman Jonathan Reid took home first place in the triple jump with a combined score of 49-03.50 and the distance medley squad comprised of Julius Bor, Emmanuel Bor and Samoei and junior Joel Lynch took top honors with a time of 10:21.56.
The 4×400 meter relay team took home second place with a time of 3:15.35 to close out the event.
Although this event may not be one of the major events on the Tide’s calendar, it is an important event because it helps build confidence heading into the second half of their season.
“I feel real good about where we are and what we’re doing, and it’s just a matter of time before we put it all together,” Glance said.
The Tide will continue the outdoor portion of their schedule as they will compete in the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla., April 1-2.
