Alabama Track and Field Qualifies Seven More Men for NCAA Championship Finals

The Crimson Tide now has 13 men heading to next month's NCAA Championship, with the women competing on Saturday.

After qualifying six men for the NCAA Championship at the NCAA East Preliminary on Thursday, Alabama track and field was back at it on Friday, adding seven more men to the list of athletes that will be heading to the finals next month.

"I’m really proud of the way we’ve gone about our business so far this week," Crimson Tide coach Dan Waters said. "We want to get after it tomorrow and continue to qualify as many folks as we can to the championship finals.”

Here are a list of the seven men that qualified on Friday, courtesy of Alabama athletics:

• Running in the last individual event of the day, Vincent Kiprop posted a time of 13:47.19 to earn a spot in Eugene in the 5,000 meters, becoming the first UA runner to double up events after qualifying in the 10,000 meters on Wednesday

• Eliud Kipsang led the second heat of the 1,500 meters from start to finish on Friday, posting a school and Hodges Stadium record and the fastest time in the history of the NCAA Preliminary round with a 3:35.49

• Robert Dunning bettered his own school record in the 110-meter hurdles, going 13.24 to post the fastest time in Jacksonville by more than a tenth of a second and earn his spot in Eugene

• Christian Edwards finished second with an outdoors PR of 16.39 meters and Keshun McGee finished fifth with a leap of 16.09 meters in the triple jump to earn berths in Eugene

• Champion Allison earned a trip to the national championship finals in the 400 meters with a 45.58, after posting a career-best 45.40 in Wednesday’s opening round

• The 4x400-meter relay of Gabe Serrano, Robert Dunning, Champion Allison and Joshua St. Clair, which raced most of the way in the dark after the stadium lights went out, finished third in heat two, earning an automatic berth to Eugene

While the men concluded their competition at the East Preliminary on Friday, the women will compete on Saturday for their shot at the NCAA Championship.

Below is the full release issued by Alabama Athletics:

Alabama Track and Field Qualifies Five More Men to the NCAA Championship Finals on Friday

After qualifying six on Wednesday, the Crimson Tide added five more on Friday, breaking two school records in the process

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Alabama men’s track team has advanced 11 men to next month’s NCAA Championship Finals in Eugene, Ore., after a strong day at the NCAA East Preliminary at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday.

The Crimson Tide qualified six to the finals on Wednesday before adding five more on Friday, including Champion Allison (400 meters), Robert Dunning (110-meter hurdles), Christian Edwards (triple jump), Vincent Kiprop (5,000 meters), Eliud Kipsang (1,500 meters) and Keshun McGee (triple jump). Kiprop, who qualified for the 10,000 meters on Wednesday, became the first UA student-athlete to double up heading into Eugene.

In the last event of the day, Gabe Serrano, Dunning, Allison and Joshua St. Clair combined to finish third in their heat with a time of 3:07.88 despite the stadium lights going out during the race, forcing the field to finish in darkness. The third-place finish earned the Tide an automatic berth to the championship finals.

With the men’s portion of the meet in the books, the Crimson Tide women close competition on Saturday.

Head Coach Dan Waters Said:

“What a crazy end to a great day for us. I’m really proud of our guys for keeping their focus when the lights went out in the final relay and continuing to compete. Because of the lights, we’ll have to run the relay again tomorrow for a chance to advance. As a team, everyone went out and did a great job. It’s always special when you can get a school record and we got two tonight with Robert in the 110-meter hurdles and Eliud in the 1,500 meters. Overall, I’m really proud of the way we’ve gone about our business so far this week. We want to get after it tomorrow and continue to qualify as many folks as we can to the championship finals.”

Going to the ‘Ship:

• After six Alabama men - Chago Basso (shot put), Bobby Colantonio Jr. (hammer), Vincent Kiprop (10,000 meters) Ryan Lipe (pole vault), Kieran McKeag (hammer) and Isaac Odugbesan (shot put) - punched their tickets for Eugene on Wednesday, five more earned their way to the NCAA Championship Finals on Friday

• The 4x400-meter relay of Gabe Serrano, Robert Dunning, Champion Allison and Joshua St. Clair, which raced most of the way in the dark after the stadium lights went out, finished third in heat two, earning an automatic berth to Eugene

• Running in the last individual event of the day, Kiprop posted a time of 13:47.19 to earn a spot in Eugene in the 5,000 meters, becoming the first UA runner to double up events after qualifying in the 10,000 meters on Wednesday

• Eliud Kipsang led the second heat of the 1,500 meters from start to finish on Friday, posting a school and Hodges Stadium record and the fastest time in the history of the NCAA Preliminary round with a 3:35.49

• Kipsang finished more than a second ahead of a field that included collegiate record holder Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame

• The rookie now holds the four fastest times in school history and is the only UA runner under 3:37 in the event

• Robert Dunning bettered his own school record in the 110-meter hurdles, going 13.24 to post the fastest time in Jacksonville by more than a tenth of a second and earn his spot in Eugene

• Christian Edwards finished second with an outdoors PR of 16.39 meters and Keshun McGee finished fifth with a leap of 16.09 meters in the triple jump to earn berths in Eugene

• Edwards’ mark ranks fifth all-time at UA, just behind current jumps coach Miguel Pate’s 16.48 meters effort from 2001

• Champion Allison earned a trip to the national championship finals in the 400 meters with a 45.58, after posting a career-best 45.40 in Wednesday’s opening round

Up Next:

• The NCAA East Preliminary comes to a close on Saturday with the final day of women’s competition getting underway at 1:30 p.m.

• A total of three Alabama women, Mercy Chelangat (10,000 meters), Nickolette Dunbar (shot put) and Taylor Gorum (shot put) have already earned spots in Eugene

• Chelangat will look to add the 5,000 meters and Gorum will look to add the discus to their respective championship slates

• The Tide will also look to qualify in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays on Saturday

• Amaris Tyynismaa will run the semifinals of the 1,500 meters after dominating the first round with a 4:11.45 to finish more than four seconds ahead of the field

• Tamara Clark ran a 11.31 in the 100 meters and a 22.62 in the 200 meters on Thursday to earn berths in the semifinals

• Daija Lampkin also advanced to the semfinals in the 200 meters after running a time of 23.53

• Natassha McDonald (52.23) and Christal Mosley (53.16) will both race in the 400 meters semifinals