LEXINGTON, Ky. – Alabama saw school records fall in the men’s 200 meters and the women’s 4×100-meter relay on the way to qualifying five individuals and all four relay teams on the final day of the NCAA Track & Field East Regional at the University of Kentucky Track & Field Complex in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday.
Saturday’s results brought Alabama’s total number of qualifiers for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to 19 individuals in 17 events along with the men’s and women’s 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays.
The first record to fall on Saturday was in the women’s 4×100-meter relay as the quartet of seniors Quanesha Burks and Diamond Gause and freshmen Symone Darius and Takyera Roberson finished third in a school-record 42.91 to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The time is the first sub-43.00 relay time in school history and breaks the previous school record of 43.17 that had stood for just a month.
Also qualifying for the women was the 4×400-meter relay squad of Roberson, Gause, Darius and senior Domonique Williams who finished fourth in 3:31.13 to qualify for the NCAA meet.
For the men, junior Jereem Richards finished second in the men’s 200 meters in a school-record 19.97 to advance to the NCAA Championships. Richards and former Alabama Olympian Calvin Smith are now the only Tide sprinters to post sub 20.00 200-meter times in school history. Richards has broken 20 seconds twice this season. He ran a wind-aided 19.98 in the prelims of the 200 meters at the SEC Track & Field Championships on May 12.
Other men’s individual qualifiers on the track included junior Ruebin Walters, who finished first in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in 13.39 and senior Robbie Farnham-Rose finished sixth in the men’s 1,500 meters in 3:47.13.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team of senior Steven Gayle and juniors Richards, Walters and Tony Brown finished sixth in 39.07 to advance while the 4xr400-meter relay of sophomore Skyler Bowden, Richards, freshman Will Allen and Gayle finished fourth in 3:03.54 to move on.
Men’s field event qualifiers were senior Klyvens Delaunay, who finished 12th in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 51-3 (15.62m) and senior Joe Williams, who finished 12th in the men’s discus with a throw of 185-0 (56.38m).
The Crimson Tide is preparing for the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships June 7-10 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
