April 11, 2008

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 9 ranked Alabama men's track and field team will once again head west, this time to compete at the 29th Sun Angel Track Classic presented by Coca-Cola this Friday and Saturday on Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. The hammer competition will be held Friday starting at 3 p.m. while the remaining events will take place Saturday.

Representatives from nationally ranked teams will include men's teams No. 2 Florida, No. 7 ASU, No. 12 Auburn, No. 13 Arizona and No. 18 Wisconsin while the women's teams set to compete include No. 5 Florida, No. 16 Auburn, No. 19 Arizona, No. 23 New Mexico and No. 25 Penn State.

Other teams that will be represented in the meet include: Adams State, Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Columbia, Coppin State, Dartmouth, DePaul, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Michigan, Morgan State, Northern Arizona, Ohio State, Rhode Island, Villanova and Washington.

Alabama jumped into the national rankings this week after entering the outdoor season unranked. The Tide post a No. 9 national ranking according to the Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) Division I Outdoor Track and Field poll.

Alabama concluded a busy weekend that featured two different meets. A Tide contingency traveled across the country to participate at the Stanford Invitational while another group stayed in the state to compete at the Tiger Classic in Auburn.

In the 5000 meters Emmanuel Bor crossed the line in seventh with a time of 13:45.84. The time shattered the regional qualifying mark by nearly 30 seconds. In the 10,000m both Tyson David and Augustus Maiyo hit NCAA provisional marks and nearly recorded automatic qualifying times with finishes of 28:47.54 and 28:48.92, respectively.

Tim Grier completed another stellar race in the 400 hurdles with a time of 52.12 to finish second overall. Trevor Denkers finished third in the javelin at the Tiger Classic with a throw of 191-07. Peter Voorhes and Grant Stone followed with tosses of 179-10 and 178-11, respectively.

Alabama will train through the week next week before head to the prestigious Drake Relays. The relays are slated to begin on April 24 in Des Moines, Iowa.