Track & Field Team Commemorates 2013-14 Accomplishments
9/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama track & field team held a team banquet on Friday night commemorating its outstanding 2013-14 cross country/track & field season. A focal point of the event featured awards presented to members of the team that distinguished themselves through performance, attitude, effort or community involvement during the 2013-14 academic and competitive year.
"Our program hasn't had a team banquet in a long time but our staff felt that the team deserved a chance to reflect on what a special year we had last season, along with providing one last opportunity for that particular group of student-athletes to gather as a team," said head coach Dan Waters. "The 2013-14 year was a milestone season for our team in our third year as a combined program. We enjoyed more success as a complete team than at any time in our tenure here. Not only did we begin to realize the vision we set forth for our program when we started here, but we also raised the expectations for ourselves and our student-athletes by achieving as much as we did."
In 2013, the Crimson Tide cross country team produced its highest finish in the women's NCAA South Region Championships since 1987, a third-place finish largely on the efforts of all-Region performers Katelyn Greenleaf and Meropi Panagiotou. That outing capped a season in which the Tide women won three team titles during the regular season before a sixth-place finish at the SEC Championships. The Crimson Tide men also continued to progress, posting competitive finishes at the SEC and Region meets during a year in which an influx of new talent melded into a competitive unit.
The Crimson Tide has produced its highest NCAA indoor and outdoor track & field team finishes in the past 30 years in both of the last two seasons and produced four individual NCAA titles (by three student-athletes). The Alabama men's team has posted consecutive top-20 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships each of the last two seasons, with the women's team posting its highest team finishes in 20 years at the 2014 NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. Eight members of the men's team and six from the women's squad earned All-America honors by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for their performances during the 2014 outdoor season. Ten student-athletes who competed at the 2014 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships earned All-America honors, earning 11 All-America citations overall. Perhaps the finest honor accomplished in the Waters era was earned when the men's track & field squad was named the 2014 Indoor Scholar Team of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
As the highest-placing team with at least a 3.00 cumulative team grade point average at the 2014 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, Alabama stood out among 116 men's programs that combined academic and athletic achievement to earn All-Academic Team honors. The Crimson Tide was the highest-finishing men's team at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn All-Academic Team honors, finishing sixth place overall with a 3.14 cumulative team GPA. It marked the first time the Crimson Tide men have earned Scholar Team of the Year honors. The Tide men also finished 15th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Tide women also had an outstanding year both on the track and in the classroom, ranking 13th nationally by cumulative grade point average with a 3.52 and finishing 19th at the NCAA Indoor Championships and 18th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The 2014 season marked the first time in school history that both the Alabama men and women finished in the top 20 at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships and posted cumulative team GPAs better than 3.0.
The 2013-14 Alabama Track & Field/Cross Country award winners were recognized during the banquet:
2013 Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year - Matt Airola
2013 Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year - Katelyn Greenleaf
2014 Most Improved Male Athlete - Charodd Richardson
2014 Most Improved Female - Yanique Malcolm
2014 Outstanding Male Field Events Athlete - Hayden Reed
2014 Outstanding Male Running Events Athlete - Diondre Batson
2014 Outstanding Female Field Events Athlete - Alexis Paine
2014 Outstanding Female Running Events Athlete - Remona Burchell
2013-14 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year - Joe Williams
2013-14 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year - Nia Barnes
2013-14 Study Hall Champion - Alex Amankwah
2014 Male Freshman of the Year - Jeremiah Green
2014 Female Freshman of the Year - Quanesha Burks
2014-15 Men's Team Captain - Hayden Reed
2014-15 Women's Team Captain - Callie Ives
2014 Cross Country Women's Team Captain - Rebecca Stover
2014 Cross Country Men's Team Captain - Matt Airola
Above and Beyond Student Athlete - Sarah Thomas
A brief look at each award winner:
2013 Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year - Matt Airola
As the oldest member of the cross country and distance corps for the Crimson Tide, Matt Airola's experience and competitive example were vital during a 2013 cross country season that saw the Tide's young team (comprised virtually entirely of freshmen and sophomores, other than the junior Airola) develop into a competitive team for upper division finishes at the SEC and NCAA South Region meets. Airola's consistency (he was the Tide's top finisher in three of six races in 2013) and maturity were integral to the team's development, earning him the Team Captaincy for 2014.
2013 Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year - Katelyn Greenleaf
During her sophomore season Katelyn Greenleaf not only established herself as Alabama's top runner, but also became one of the best younger runners on the collegiate scene as she earned all-SEC second team and first-team NCAA all-South Region honors. Greenleaf was the Tide's leading finisher in Alabama's last five races of 2013, and in five of six races overall. She finished in the top 10 of four races and the top 13 in five races on the season, place second at both the Iowa Black and Gold Invitational and the Crimson Classic. Her ninth-place finish at the 2013 SEC Championships earned her all-SEC honors and her 13th-place showing at the NCAA South Region meet earned the all-Region honor.
2014 Most Improved Male Athlete - Charodd Richardson
It can arguably be stated that few athletes in Alabama's entire athletics history have risen so quickly from obscurity to stardom as Charodd Richardson. Prior to 2014, Richardson had not seriously challenged for an SEC title or an NCAA meet appearance, despite showing drastic improvement in his personal best marks in the weight throw and hammer. That all changed in 2014 as the junior from Blakely, Georgia, won the weight throw at the SEC Indoor Championships with a toss of 70 feet, 7 inches. He followed that up with an 11th-place finish at the NCAA indoor meet, earning second-team all-America honors. Richardson finished sixth in the hammer at the 2014 SEC outdoor meet and earned another second-team all-America citation with a 13th-place finish at the NCAA outdoor meet.
2014 Most Improved Female - Yanique Malcolm
For Yanique Malcolm, the 2014 season was a year in which all of her hard work began to produce impressive results. Due to the Jamaican's total body of work and development over two years in the Alabama program, Malcolm earned the Most Improved Female Athlete Award for the 2014 track & field season. Malcolm, who entered Alabama in the fall of 2012 with a personal best time in the 800 meters of 2 minutes, 11 seconds, ended her Crimson Tide career as the indoor school record holder (2:03.97) and the 2014 SEC outdoor 800-meter champion (2:03.28). A three-time first-team all-SEC honoree, Malcolm earned second-team all-America honors at the 2014 indoor and outdoor championships.
2014 Outstanding Male Field Events Athlete - Hayden Reed
There is not much more that a discus athlete can do in a single season of competition than Hayden Reed accomplished during the 2014 season. Reed was so good in the discus in 2014 that his worst showing of the entire season was a second-place finish at the SEC Championships. He produced eight of the top 10 discus marks in Alabama history in 2014, and enters the 2015 season second on the all-time Crimson Tide list with a personal best of 209 feet, 1 inch, set at the SEC meet. Reed earned eight victories in 2014, including the NCAA title and the USATF Championships, achieving a double that has been accomplished very few times in the history of track & field in the United States. Because of his work ethic, outstanding academic performance, consistency, drive and competitiveness, Reed also has been bestowed the honor of serving as team captain for the Alabama men's team during the 2014-15 academic and competitive year.
2014 Outstanding Male Running Events Athlete - Diondre Batson
There was no better sprinter in collegiate track the last two seasons than Diondre Batson. Injuries hampered him during the 2014 outdoor season, but his impact on the Crimson Tide track & field program is indelible and will be lasting. Batson was the catalyst for the entire Alabama team's development into an SEC and national contender over the last two years, a sprinter who quickly developed into a world-class athlete. He won the NCAA indoor 200-meter title in March was the 2013 SEC outdoor 100-meter champion, earned first-team all-America honors six times and achieved a top-10 US ranking in the 100-meters in 2013. Batson earned recognition as one of the best sprinter in Alabama history. His will be a name to follow in the future of American track & field, and he earned Alabama's 2014 Outstanding Male Running Events Athlete honor.
2014 Outstanding Female Field Events Athlete - Alexis Paine
A former high jumper and gymnast whose competitive drive and work ethic made her one of the nation's finest pole vaulters during her Alabama career, Alexis Paine was the epitome of what a student-athlete can be. Paine's contributions to the Alabama program's development over the course of her career transcended her accomplishments in the pole vault, having a tremendous impact on the development of the entire women's team over the last three seasons. Paine set a school record in the pole vault in 2014 (14 feet, 3.25 inches) and earned second-team all-America honors in the event at the 2014 indoor championships. Over the course of her career, Paine was the 2013 SEC indoor champion, earned outdoor all-American honors twice (2012 and 2013) and holds both the indoor and outdoor school records. She set a new standard for the event at Alabama, completely re-writing the Crimson Tide indoor all-time top 10 list in the event while owning eight of the all-time top 10 marks on the Alabama outdoor list at the close of her career.
2014 Outstanding Female Running Events Athlete - Remona Burchell
Everyone knows of the accomplishments of Remona Burchell during the 2014 season: the NCAA champion in the indoor 60-meter dash, the NCAA outdoor 100-meter champion, the school record in the indoor 60 (7.11), the school record in the outdoor 100 (11.03). In 2014, Burchell carved a niche in Alabama history as the only Crimson Tide sprinter to win NCAA titles both indoors and outdoors. But few know that she accomplished all of these while struggling with a painful sports hernia throughout the year, an injury that limited her ability to compete for much of the season. In spite of this, her accomplishments insure that Burchell already has earned her place among the top sprinters in collegiate history. The 2014 Outstanding Female Running Events Athlete, Burchell has put the Alabama women's sprint program among the nationally elite.
2013-14 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year - Joe Williams
One of the top discus throwers in the SEC, Joe Williams' impact on the 2013-14 Crimson Tide track & field team far exceeded his competitive record. Williams' example as a competitor in the truest sense on the track and in the classroom has impacted the program in both areas. An excellent student and a thrower who continues to develop into a national contender in the discus, Williams scored in the SEC meet in the discus as a freshman in 2014 and set a personal best in the event of 189-7 in April. Williams has a 4.00 grade-point average while majoring in civil engineering and earned national all-Academic honors.
2013-14 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year - Nia Barnes
A 4.00 student majoring in Telecommunications and Film-Media Production, Nia Barnes has done a little bit of everything while making the most of the student-athlete experience at Alabama. She takes her schoolwork as seriously as her work on the track, has shown drastic improvement in her specialty event, the hammer throw, and earned a summer internship with Nike this past summer. Barnes earned national all-Academic honors in 2014, was a second-team all-SEC performer in the hammer throw and honorable mention honors in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
2013-14 Study Hall Champion - Alex Amankwah
A transfer from West Los Angeles College in California, Alex Amankwah developed into a nationally-competitive 800-meter runner in 2014. That development - in only his fifth season as a competitive track athlete in 2014 - was not a surprise to his coaches. The 2015 senior does everything to the best of his ability, approaching his schoolwork with maximum effort. Amankwah goes above the expected in everything he does. He treats his tutors with respect. For his efforts, Amankwah is the 2013-14 Study Hall Champion for the Crimson Tide.
2014 Male Freshman of the Year - Jeremiah Green
As a true freshman in 2014, Jeremiah Green not only validated the high expectations observers had for him due to his high school career accomplishments, but achieved a level of success few true freshmen in SEC history have ever attained. For his victory in the triple jump at the SEC Indoor Championships, Green earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors. That SEC victory was a rare accomplishment, but was only the latest in a life in which he has overcome much. Despite many hardships, Green comes to practice every day with a smile. He is doing great things and making the most of his talent, in spite of an injury that limited his ability during the outdoor season.
2014 Female Freshman of the Year - Quanesha Burks
An all-American as a member of Alabama's 4x100-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Quanesha Burks may have learned more about track & field in her first year at Alabama as anyone could. Her baptism into NCAA track created great opportunities that she made the most of that experience. After showing phenomenal potential in 2014, Burks learned much about the sport, and about herself, in her first year at Alabama and great things could be in store for her.
Above and Beyond Student Athlete - Sarah Thomas
Sprinter Sarah Thomas has been a tremendous ambassador and representative of our program throughout her career at Alabama. She works incredibly hard and has been a positive example for others in every aspect of the program. Sarah developed into one of Alabama's top sprinters over the last two years, and earned first-team all-America honors on the 4x100-meter relay team in 2014. Described by her coaches as "the glue of our team", Sarah Thomas has a positive effect on her teammates and the program, in general. She is the recipient of the 2014 Above and Beyond Student Athlete award.
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