The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
2011 UAB Track & Field Preview
1/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Jan. 11, 2011
In its 25th year of track and field, UAB returns 22 athletes, including four NCAA qualifiers, two Conference USA champions and five all-conference honorees. Joining this talented group are 11 newcomers, including 2010 high school All-American Renay Ransaw.
Leading the Blazers will be head coach Kurt Thomas, who is in his fourth year overall at UAB and his first as head coach after one year in an interim capacity. He has coached multiple all-conference athletes and regional qualifiers during his tenure with the UAB track & field program.
Joining Thomas will be first-year assistant coaches Tony Houchin and Kiamesha Otey. Houchin, who also serves as UAB's head cross country coach, will work with the distance runners, while Otey will focus on the jumpers and multi-event athletes.
Mid-Distance/Distance
The distance group returns a solid core of veterans, including 2010 C-USA champion Rhiannon Johns, fifth-year senior Kristina Olsen, and senior Stephanie Gammon.
Last season, Johns won the 10,000-meter at the C-USA Outdoor Championships with a time of 35:07.25. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada product also qualified for the East Preliminary Round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter events.
The Blazers have added depth in juniors Clara Cid, Colleen Standridge and Kristina Vaughn, who will be joined by newcomers Amanda Horton and Emily Trotter.
Junior Lauren Fayen and senior Bianca Le'Blanc lead the UAB mid-distance squad. Last season, Fayen broke the school outdoor 1,500-meter record, and Le'Blanc earned third-team All-C-USA honors and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800-meter.
Fayen and Le'Blanc will be joined by Lucy Taylor, who broke the UAB indoor 1,000-meter record in 2010, and newcomers Elin Andersson and Kara Woods.
Sprints
Seniors Adriennie Bradley and Veronicia Johnson lead the way for the sprint squad this season along with sophomores Karina Expose, Thelyssa Katchen, Shakima Knox, Lytrice Thomas and Angel Watson.
Knox recorded the top 60-meter (indoor) and 100-meter (outdoor) times for the Blazers last season, while Watson posted the top 200-meter (indoor and outdoor) times. Thomas and Expose had the top 400-meter indoor and outdoor times, respectively.
Three newcomers with impressive experience will also be looked upon to contribute for UAB. Those newcomers include Lauren Barrington, Alexis Bates and Kyana White.
Hurdlers
Senior Samantha Hamilton will lead the hurdling squad this season. Hamilton qualified for the East Preliminary Round of the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships with her personal-record time of 13.78 at the C-USA Championships last year.
Thomas earned 2010 third-team all-conference honors after placing third in the 400-meter hurdles at the league outdoor meet with a time of 1:01.47.
Sophomore Rachel Harley, along with newcomer Renay Ransaw will be looked upon to contribute for UAB. Ransaw earned 2010 All-American honors as a high schooler after her effort in the 100-meter hurdles at the New Balance National Meet.
Jumps
Two-time C-USA champion Nora Mehl will lead the Blazer jumping attack in 2011. The Rottweil, Germany product provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships last year and broke the UAB high jump record with a leap of 1.81 meters (5-11.25). The senior standout also qualified for the East Preliminary Round of the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump.
Samantha Hamilton will compete in triple jump for UAB after recording top 10 finishes at both the indoor and outdoor league meets the last two seasons. Junior Sterling Cross also returns for the Blazers, and will be joined by newcomers Taylor Simpson and Kelli Smith.
Multi
The multi group contains a diverse collection of athletes that is led by 2010 C-USA pentathlon champion Nora Mehl. Mehl's 3,774 points broke UAB's pentathlon record and provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Sophomore Akira McSwain had a standout freshman season after receiving second-team All-C-USA honors at the league indoor meet. McSwain also earned second-team all-conference honors at the outdoor league meet after finishing as the runner-up in the heptathlon.
Sophomore Callerina Key, along with Sterling Cross and Renay Ransaw, will provide depth for the Green and Gold in the multi events.
Relays
UAB returns all of the members of its indoor 4x400-meter relay squad in Lytrice Thomas, Thelyssa Katchen, Karina Expose and Akira McSwain. Lauren Fayen, Katchen and Lucy Taylor return for the Blazer indoor distance medley relay squad.
The Blazers' outdoor 4x100-meter and 4x200-meter teams return Shakima Knox, McSwain and Angel Watson. Last season, the 4x200-meter squad ran to a third-place finish at the Sea Ray Relays.
All of UAB's 2010 outdoor 4x400-meter relay returns in McSwain, Bianca Le'Blanc, Thomas and Expose. The squad, which placed sixth at the 2010 C-USA Outdoor Championships, looks to contend for a title in 2011.
