Special to RBR: Alabama T&F at the NCAA National Championships

Ed. Note: Huge props to PiperTJ for covering the NCAAs for us. TF deserves more attention than we presently give it, but, as we’ve said on a few occasions, it’s simply out of our core competencies. Roll Tides all around for this. -E

For those of us that follow the “flyover” sports, there really isn’t an #offseason. This is especially true for track & field, which, when combined with cross country, results in nearly year-round viewing opportunities (if you don’t mind scouring ESPN 8 “The Ocho” at 3 AM to get your fix).

Fortunately, Crimson Tide Head Coach Dan Waters has Alabama Track hitting their stride (pun) before summer break. If you happen to have had ESPN on during the past few evenings, you may have caught our Crimson Harriers™ in action at the NCAA Championships from rainy Hayward Field in Eugene, OR.

Scoring Primer Here

‘Bama punched their ticket to Eugene with qualifying marks across multiple events, building on great performances earlier in the year and most recently at the SEC Championships.

Results:

The Women entered in the Top 20, but just couldn’t find their mojo. They tallied three points coming on a cold, wet Sunday from lane one in 4X100 (44.05).

I wouldn’t be too disappointed: the relay team consisted of 3 freshmen and 1 sophomore, and should be contenders for years to come.

(C) 2018 University of Alabama Athletics, via RollTide.com

The Men fared much better, living up to their #6 final ranking, and finished tied for 5th overall with 33 points.

Shelby McEwen- The Jumpin’ Junior soared over 7’ 3” for 2nd place - The best ‘Bama mark in high jump since ‘85. He has a personal record of over 7’ 4”, and stands a good chance of winning it all next year.

6/08/18 MWTR NCAA Championship Alabama’s Shelby McEwen Photo by Robert Sutton (C) 2018

Vincent Kiprop - 1/3 of the Kenyan Konnection™, Kiprop was just edged at the tape by Michigan’s Ben Flanagan, good for 2nd Place in 28:34.99 (No, you couldn’t finish a 10k walking)

Junior Gilbert Kigen also earned points in the 10K, finishing 7th in 28:55.66

Kiprop, Kigen, and SR Alfred Chelanga, also ran the 5K, but failed to finish in the points.

SR Ruebin Walters looked in championship form of the 110 High Hurdles preliminaries with a 13.3. He wasn’t able to repeat what would have been a finals winning time, earning 6th with a 13.95.

Freshman Christian Edwards jumped (Ha!) from 9th place to 6th in the Triple on his final attempt, nearly hitting 54’ and destroying his PR in the process, as well as earning Bama much needed points.

The Big Boys brought their A- Game with throwers Daniel Haugh and Kord Ferguson finishing 5th and 4th in the Hammer and Discus Throws, respectively.

ESSSS EEEEEE SEEEEE SPEEEED

The SEC was well-represented, led by Georgia (gotta’ win those championships somewhere, right?) who nearly pulled the double, as USCw won under protest at the tape in the Women’s 4X400.

Here were your final standings at Nationals:

Women:

USC- 53

UGA- 52

Stanford- 51

UK- 46

FLA- 42

Men:

UGA- 52

FLA- 42

Houston- 35

USC- 34

Bama- 33 (T-5th)

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Just because, Bama T&F video -- the real King James (embeds disabled.)

Roll Tide