Alabama
SEC Indoor Championships
Alabama Track & Field Starts SEC Indoor Championships with Championship Record and Three Medals
2/25/2021 7:20:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
The Crimson Tide women won their first DMR title since 1994 on the way to becoming the first quartet under 11 minutes at the championships, setting the SEC record at 10:59.21
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Not a bad way to start.
One event into the 2021 Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships being held in Fayetteville, Ark., this week, and the Alabama women took gold with a championship record. One event in for the men, and the Crimson Tide took silver, before adding another silver medal to close the day.
Jami Reed, Christal Mosely, Lauren Turner and Amaris Tyynismaa shattered the championship record, dropping it by more than five seconds, on the way to winning gold in the women's distance medley relay (DMR) with a 10:59.21. The Tide's mark also destroyed the school DMR record, knocking nearly 18 seconds off the mark set in 1994.
On the men's side of things, Jace Jones, Gabe Serrano, Grady Shiflet and Eliud Kipsang grabbed the silver medal in the DMR in a time of 9:31.77. It marked Alabama's first medal in the race since also taking second in 2016, and its seventh SEC medal overall.
The men closed the day with another silver medal when Bobby Colantonio Jr., used a toss of 73-6 (22.40m) to take second in the weight throw. It is his first SEC medal in the event, the Crimson Tide's sixth overall and second since 2018.
The Crimson Tide men lead the team race with 17 points while the women are fifth with the 10 points from the DMR.
Head Coach Dan Waters Said
"What a way to start things off. Both DMRs came out hot and really set the tone for the week. What an amazing performance for Jami, Christal, Lauren and Amaris, smashing the championship record by more than five seconds and knocking more than 17 seconds off the school record – that's very, very impressive. We're also really proud of the job that Jace, Gabe, Grady, Eluid and Bobby did in getting the big points up on the board for us. I can't say enough about the way Eliud brought us home in the DMR, taking us from the back of the pack to the front with the fastest final split by nearly three seconds. Now we just need to go into tomorrow and keep things rolling."
Other Thursday Highlights
- Eluid Kipsang ran a 3:51.73 on the final leg of the men's DMR, nearly three second faster than the second fastest final leg and nine or more seconds faster than the rest of the field
- With three events left on Friday, Jake Spotswood is in sixth place in the heptathlon with 3052 points
- Kieran McKeag also scored in the men's weight throw, taking eighth place with a toss of 69-2.75 (21.10m)
- Taylor Gorum took 12th in the women's weight throw after an opening toss of 59-9.00 (18.21m)
Friday Events
- Friday includes the conclusion of the heptathlon and the finals of the men's and women's 5,000-meters, high jump, long jump and women's pole vault
- Friday will also see a full slate of preliminary events with the finals set for Saturday
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Players Mentioned
