The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Leading The Charge To Nationals
5/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 9, 2013
This season, the UAB track and field team has turned in some of the top results in the history of the program.
The Blazers boast a number of notable distance runners in redshirt senior Rhiannon Johns, senior Sarah Hudak and junior newcomer Elinor Kirk. On the sprint side, Rachel Harley has posted a standout senior season, leading the UAB sprinters with each of the top five times in the 400m hurdles.
Each have high expectations for the final meets of the season, as they look to finish strong at the 2013 Conference USA Outdoor Championship this weekend in Houston, Texas. The four-day competition will be hosted by Rice University, May 9-12. At stake are potential berths in the NCAA East Preliminaries, May 23-25, at Greensboro, N.C.
"We are very fortunate to have a few ladies ranked pretty high nationally and regionally," head coach Kurt Thomas said. "Rhi (Johns) has had an outstanding career, and is currently ranked very high nationally in the 10,000m and 5,000m. Sarah (Hudak), Eli (Kirk) and Rachel (Harley) are all in great position regionally to make a splash."
Track and field is unique in its qualification process for the NCAA Championships. The country is split into two regions, the East and the West, and each event takes the top 48 athletes in each region to the NCAA Preliminary meet.
"It's similar to the NCAA basketball tournament's first two rounds of March Madness," Thomas said. "If you're at that meet, you're in the top 86 best athletes in that event in the entire country, and top 48 in half of the country. To have Rhi ranked second in the East, 14th nationally is a testament to her hard work and Tony's (Houchin) training and coaching. Sarah, Eli, Rachel and our 4x100 relay are all in the same boat. They are all ranked in the top 26 in our region."
Leading the way for the Blazers, Johns is a three-time Conference USA champion in the 10,000m. This season, the Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, native broke the school record at the Stanford Invite (March 30) with a time of 33:29.99.
"I think it's fair to say that we have pretty high expectations going into the conference championship," Johns said. "The season has been going very well for a lot of us, we've had a lot of success before, and conference isn't something that we take lightly. It's something we put a star on, the goal is ultimately winning, and a part from that, it's about putting yourself in a position to compete and be in a place to win, and I think we've done that so far."
A season ago, Johns competed in cross country before using her redshirt season during indoor and outdoor track. The Blazer also owns school records both in the indoor and outdoor 5,000m.
"This year, I'm more prepared than I've ever been," Johns said. "I've had a consistent level of training this year, I haven't been injured or missed any time, and I think that I'm in a place where I can run faster than I have before, which I am looking to do."
Also on the distance side, Hudak had a standout season for cross country, and looks to defend her C-USA title in the 1,500m. A season ago, the Manchester, England native won the race with a time of 4:21.84. This year, Hudak bested her time at the Mt. Sac Relays on April 20 with a mark of 4:20.58.
"We've been preparing all year for this competition, it's the big one," Hudak said. "All of our best performances usually happen at conference, and I hope to break another school record and defend my title in the 1,500m. That has definitely been one of my biggest goals this year."
Hudak also own the UAB record in the indoor mile, when she ran a 4:48.80 during the 2012 campaign.
Joining the team in 2013 is junior Elinor Kirk, from Wales in the U.K. Kirk has had a standout first season with the Blazers, earning 26 points for the squad during the indoor conference meet, in which UAB finished in third, its best finish since 2005.
"I hope to bring the same successes I had in indoor to outdoor," Kirk said. "Indoor was a good chance to race against the same teams we will be seeing in outdoor, so hopefully knowing our competitors will help us when we are in Houston."
Kirk broke the school record in the 5,000m at the Stanford Invite on March 30, with a time of 16:07.13 before the mark was once again broken by teammate Johns.
"I'm excited because this is the event that's talked about even before the beginning of the season," Kirk said. "There's a countdown to conference starting all the way in August, and it's just so exciting because this is my first trip. Hopefully all our hard work over this year will pay off."
Kirk's times currently rank her at 42nd in the nation in the 5000m, and the unpredictability of conference means that she has the chance to solidify her qualification for the upcoming NCAA Preliminary meet.
"There are so many girls running quick times in the 5000m, but it's nice to be ranked so high in the nation," Kirk said. "Anything can happen coming into regionals, and hopefully I'll be able to get there and then progress to nationals. I may not be in the top at the moment, but I hope to be able to get there."
Another standout for the Blazers this spring has been Harley, who ran a personal best in the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.80 at the Vanderbilt Invite on April 20. Harley's time places her among the top of the nation, which gives her the opportunity to compete at the preliminary meet. The mark is also close to the school record, which has been held by Nakeshia Jackson since 2000, of 58.44.
"It's actually a nice relief to, as of this moment, already be set in the top 48 of the region," Harley said. "It's really nice to have already hit that mark because last year, I didn't make it until the conference prelims. I dropped a lot of time, did it at the last second. It's a big relief to already know that I'm at least guaranteed two more meets. It's really exciting and a lot of motivation. Going into conference, it's nice to be a senior and know that it's not my last race. I still have another meet and hopefully I will be able to do more than last year."
A season ago, Harley finished fifth in her heat and 29th overall in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:00.04, just two places from qualifying for the semifinals.
"A lot of people can run really fast at preliminaries, but there are also a lot of people who don't," Harley said. "You never know. You could be ranked in the top 12 right now, which qualifies for the NCAA Championships, but it's not a guarantee for how you'll perform in the quarterfinals in your event. You just have to make the best of all the opportunities you have to race, and I think we're doing a good job on focusing on that right now. We still have another week of preparations."
