Alabama Track & Field Ready for SEC Indoor Championships

The Crimson Tide travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for the 2013 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday-Sunday, February 22-24, after having last weekend off.

12/09/2012

Tide's 2013 Men's Track & Field Recruiting Class Rated 3rd in Nation by Track & Field News

Former University of Alabama All-American and national champion Miguel Pate is in his second season as an assistant coach at Alabama, serving as the assistant sprints coach while also assisting with the jumps and various other areas of the program.

"Miguel is exactly what we needed and were looking for in our program," Waters said. "He's energetic and has the passion and desire be a great coach. He has a great background and reputation in the South as a coach and athlete. Plus he carries the experience of being a national champion and understands the level at which we aim to compete."

Pate returned to Tuscaloosa after spending the 2010-11 academic year as an assistant at Samford following a successful professional career. He works with Matt Kane in developing sprinters and with legendary coach Dick Booth in mentoring the Tide jumpers. His worked helped yield dividends quickly in 2012 as Alabama's Kamal Fuller earned all-American honors in the men's long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

As a student-athlete at Alabama from 1999-2002, Pate captured the NCAA indoor long jump title in 2002 and finished second in the triple jump. That same indoor season he set the collegiate indoor long jump record with a mark of 28-2 1/4 at the USA Indoor Championships and won a bronze medal at the World Championships. He was a seven-time All-American at Alabama and was ranked in the top five in the USA and the top ten in the world in the long jump for eight consecutive years. He still owns UA records in both the long jump and triple jump indoors, and the school record in the outdoor long jump as well.

In 2008 he finished third at the U.S. Olympic Trials to earn his first spot on an Olympic team at the Beijing Games. He ended the 2008 season ranked number one in the U.S. by Track & Field News and followed that up with a fourth-place finish at the USA Outdoor Championships. He ended that season ranked third in the country by Track & Field News before retiring from competition to begin his coaching career.