The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Track & Field Set to Host UAB Blazer Invite
1/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Jan. 9, 2014
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB track and field team will host the Third Annual UAB Blazer Invite this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10-11, at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
"We are thrilled to host the Third Annual Blazer Invite this weekend,” head coach Kurt Thomas said. “We have expanded the meet to two days, which will allow us a few more events, as well as allow more athletes to be entered. My goal for this meet is to allow as many teams and athletes to start the season with the competitive opportunities they need on a great track.”
Friday’s portion of the meet will begin with the field events at 3:30 p.m., and running events will follow at 4 p.m. with the men’s and women’s 60m hurdles prelims. Saturday’s action will get underway at 9 a.m. from the Birmingham CrossPlex and will run through 4:15 p.m. to close out UAB’s annual home meet.
“The quality of the meet has been improved with teams like the five-time NCAA Champion Florida Gators and three-time NCAA Champion Florida State Seminoles, as well as Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. New Conference USA teams like Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee and Charlotte will be here competing. All those teams bring All-American athletes to the meet, which makes for a very competitive meet.”
Other teams include FIU, Alabama State, Samford, Troy, Georgia State, Alabama A&M, Mississippi Valley, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Florida A&M, Western Kentucky, North Texas, South Alabama, UT-Chattanooga, Bethune-Cookman, Tulane, Jacksonville State, Savannah State, Tennessee State, Georgia Southern, Jackson State, Mississippi College, Kennesaw State, Alabama-Huntsville, Birmingham-Southern, Lipscomb, Johnson C. Smith, Zap Fitness, Shorter, Academy of Art, Trevecca Nazarene and Speed Factory Athletics.
“As far as our team, we want to see the athletes pick up where they left off in December,” Thomas said. “We had some very good season-opening performances to end the fall semester. I feel like the girls worked hard over the break, but there's no better way to see where we are than to perform. So we'll know more about ourselves after this meet. We are excited to have Eli (Kirk) open her indoor season. She's running the 3000m, and hoping for a very good competition.”
At its previous meet, UAB finished with 11 top-5 finishes, two event wins and a broken school record in pole vault. Transfer graduate student and NCAA All-American Neal Tisher finished second in pole vault in her first competition as a Blazer, while Shelby Barker and Shakima Knox picked up wins in high jump and the 60-meter dash, respectively.
Admission to this weekend’s UAB Blazer Invite is free, and will feature a world record holder in Tianna Bartoletta. Bartoletta, a member of Team USA, was part of the 4x100 team that broke the record in the 2012 London Olympics. The meet will also feature two olympians in Michael Mathieu, who was a member of the 4x400 relay team that won the silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Gloria Asumnu, a former member of the Nigerian National Team. UAB’s All-American squad of Alexis Bates, Shakima Knox, Angel Watson and Kyana White will also compete at the meet.
Final results of the UAB Blazer Invite will be posted at UABsports.com, and all information pertaining to the meet is available under the track and field page at UABsports.com.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account, @UABathletics. For an in-depth look into the UAB Track & Field program, follow @UAB_Track on Twitter.
