UAB Track & Field Concludes Action at Vulcan Invite

Friday, January 23

Birmingham CrossPlex

All Day

UAB

UAB Vulcan Invite

Head coach Kurt Thomas' Blazers picked up a total of six top-five finishes on Friday

UAB Track & Field Concludes Action at Vulcan Invite

1/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

Jan. 23, 2015

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Shanice Leach finished in first in the long jump and was one of UAB's six top-five finishers as action wrapped up at the Vulcan Invite on Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

"We had a pretty good meet," head coach Kurt Thomas said. "We've been looking for some better performances.  We've been competing and training hard for the past three weeks and it's started to pay off.  Shanice had a tremendous jump in the long jump - 5.99 is big."

Leach leapt 5.99 meters on her third attempt of the afternoon to take home the victory, marking the first win in a field event for the Blazers this season and their third overall.

UAB got a pair of top-five finishes in the 60-meter hurdles from Autumnn Burnett and Jessica Shelley. In her first collegiate hurdles final, Burnett finished third with a time of 8.62, while Shelley clocked a time of 8.76 to finish fifth.

After a pair of victories in the 3,000 earlier in the season, Lucy Crookes clocked a time of 4:59.55 to finish second in her first one-mile race of the season. Sarah Livett followed in fifth with a time of 5:09.72.

Rebecca Evans rounded out the six top-five performers with a third-place finish and a season-best time of 9:55.57 in the 3,000-meter run.

"Autumnn Burnett ran very well in the hurdles," Thomas said. "She's starting to put it together.  Lucy, Rebecca and Sarah continue to run well.  We'll get two weeks to train and get ready for the end of the season.  This was a good turning point for us in the season.  Some girls stepped up, and it was great to see."

Other notable performances in the track events came from Leila Elliott, who took home sixth in the 200-meter dash (25.16), and from Jenna Wesley, who finished eighth in the 800-meter race (2:16.57). Kendra Gipson and Leach each placed in the top-10 in the triple jump, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively.

UAB will host the Green and Gold Invite on Saturday. Admission is free, and results will be posted on 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_TrackXC on Twitter.