Two meets into the season, Alabama track and field has already found measured success across both men’s and women’s competitions.
In the Sept. 16 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Poll, the men were ranked No. 11 overall and No. 1 in the South Region, while the women were No. 6 overall and likewise top in the South.
The Crimson Tide sent competitors to the Tennessee Cross Country Invitational on Aug. 29 and the Jacksonville State Southern Showcase Sept. 12, and it placed runners in the top 10 at each race. More notably, the team had four men and women finish in the top five between the two meets, including taking both No. 1 spots most recently at the Southern Showcase.
A large amount of success has come from younger athletes within the program. Those two No. 1 finishes belonged to sophomore Dismus Lokira and freshman Caren Kiplagat; their wins were punctuated by taking home SEC Runner of the Week honors, and Kiplagat was named USTFCCCA Division I Women’s National Athlete of the Week.
The trend began in the first meet, when freshman Jackson Hogsed was the second highest-ranking Crimson Tide men’s runner and freshman Isabelle Sullivan was the top runner for the women.
“With a younger team, I felt they handled and executed their race plans very well,” head coach Dan Waters said after the team’s first race..
He called the path forward an “onwards and upwards” trajectory and was focused on “building consistency and confidence with each race.”
Beyond just the high-ranking underclassmen, the entire team showed in the Jacksonville State meet that it can build such consistency. On the men’s side, junior Dennis Kipruto finished second with freshman Timothy Kibet finishing eighth, and overall the Crimson Tide was No. 1 in the team rankings. The women didn’t finish as highly as a team, but they still had senior Lilly Walters finish in eighth place.
“This was a really good start to the competitive season, and I’m proud of how our group stepped up today. They executed the race plans with confidence and showed great energy throughout both races,” Waters said after the Southern Showcase. “It was good to fire up the engines before we head to Missouri in a few weeks.”
That meet — the Gans Creek Classic taking place at the University of Missouri — will be another opportunity for these Crimson Tide teams to build on their success and improve their overall finishes. If the women’s team can round out its overall team placement from Jacksonville State, then the Alabama men-women combo can solidly claim to be the most formidable in the SEC and the entire South Region.
The Gans Creek Classic will begin Friday at 8:15 a.m. CT with the men’s meet, and the women’s will follow at 9 a.m.
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