Multiple Medals Won, School Records Fall for Alabama on Final Day of SEC Track and Field Outdoor Championships

The Crimson Tide captured eight event medals and broke two school records on the final day of the conference meet.

BamaCentral Staff | May 14, 2023

Alabama Athletics

BATON ROUGE, La. — On the final day of the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships, the Alabama track and field programs won eight event medals and broke school records in both the men’s 400-meter hurdles, as well as the men’s 4x400-meter relay.

Chris Robinson claimed the Crimson Tide’s first silver medal of the conference meet (48.36) when he broke the UA school record for the third time this outdoor season in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Later in the night, Robinson would join Corde Long, Khaleb McRae and Tarsis Orogot in the men’s 4x400-meter relay where the squad took second place (2:58.01) behind a school-record-breaking performance.

In the first event on the final day, thrower Alan de Falchi finished third in the men’s discus. His 61.82-meter throw (202-10) earned him a bronze medal and marked the second-straight year that de Falchi reached the podium in the event.

Chelsea Igberaese would follow suit with a bronze of her own in the women’s discus (57.97m | 190-2), making it the second consecutive year that Alabama has reached the podium in the event. Her PR-breaking throw is now the third-farthest mark in program history.

Around mid-afternoon, triple jumper Christian Edwards found himself in sixth place upon entering his final jump. Soaring to a season-best, 16.22-meter mark (53-2.75), the cardiac jumper would end his night by standing on the podium, in possession of a bronze medal.

Shortly after, the Bernie Moore Track Stadium experienced its second 30-minute lightning delay of the weekend. Upon competition resuming, Robinson ran his silver-medal-winning performance in the 400-meter hurdles. Orogot hit the track next for Alabama, in the 200-meter dash (20.34), as the owner of the famous headband and iconic crazy socks sprinted his way to another third-place finish for the Crimson Tide.

The final medals on the women’s side came in the 5,000-meter run where Mercy Chelangat (15:25.07) and Hilda Olemomoi (15:28.12) finished second and third, respectively. It’s now back-to-back championship meets (NCAA Indoor Championships | March 10 | 5,000m) that the duo has finished in the top-three of that event.

Alabama concluded the conference meet with the men finishing tied for seventh place and the women ending tied in eighth. Across the weekend, the Tide claimed 11 event medals, set a total of 14 PRs, broke two school records and made six edits to Alabama’s all-time top-10 lists.

WHAT HEAD COACH DAN WATERS SAID

“I’m proud of the way we finished today. We scored a lot of points in the last few events and I’m very proud of that – that’s how we do things. Our goal going into this season was to be at our absolute best for Regionals and Nationals. This program doesn’t aspire to be seventh and eighth in the conference, but our hope as a coaching staff is that these hard-to-swallow decisions we’ve made will pay off in two, four weeks when we get to do the things we promised with the group we have this year. We need to get better in some areas, but that’s part of the process in a season like this – to get better week in, week out. The goal is to use this weekend to create meaningful conversations in order to improve and take care of business in two weeks at the regional meet, and then create national recognition for this program in four weeks at nationals. We have one month left. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, keep moving forward and have a great rest of the season.”

CRIMSON TIDE TOP FINISHES

Opened the final day of the conference meet by claiming bronze in the men’s discus (61.82m | 202-10). It is his second-straight year earning a podium finish in the event.
Amari Brown, Milan Fields, Na’Taja Ballard and Amara Obi clocked 44.00 en-route to a seventh-place finish in the women’s 4x100-meter relay to add to Alabama’s team points
record an eighth-place finish in the men’s 4x100-meter relay
Flomena Asekol clocked a fifth-place finish in the women’s 1,500-meter final (4:20.19)
Chelsea Igberaese took bronze in the women’s discus behind a PR-breaking, 57.97-meter throw (190-2), marking the second consecutive year that a UA student-athlete has medaled in the event (Taylor Gorum, 2022). Her throw is now the third-farthest mark in program history.
Gorum picked up an eighth-place finish in the women’s discus (53.62m | 175-11)
Khaleb McRae clocked a new PR en route to his sixth-place finish in the men’s 400-meter final (45.12)
Christian Edwards used his final attempt of the men’s triple jump final (16.22m | 53-2.75) to claim bronze
Chris Robinson broke his school record in the men’s 400-meter hurdles (48.36) to finish second in the event and claim the Tide’s first silver medal of the meet
Tarsis Orogot ran 20.34 to win bronze in the men’s 200-meter final
Eliud Kipsang finished seventh in the men’s 5,000-meter run (14:21.62)
Mercy Chelangat (15:25.07) and Hilda Olemomoi (15:28.12) finished second and third, respectively, in the women’s 5,000-meter run
Corde Long, McRae, Orogot and Robinson secured the Tide its final medal of the conference meet after clocking 2:58.01 in the men’s 4x400-meter relay. The time broke Alabama’s previous school record and placed the squad second in the event.

UP NEXT

Alabama will take a week off before gearing up for the NCAA East Preliminaries, May 24-27. Hosted in Jacksonville, Fla., the meet will serve as the launching pad for a ticket to the NCAA Championships.

All information was obtained through a press release from Alabama Athletics.

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