Auburn, Ala.—The Auburn track and field team will compete in third indoor meet in as many weeks when it travels to the Bob Pollock Invitational, January 25-26, at the Clemson University Indoor Complex in Clemson, S.C. Friday's action begins with the multi events at 9:30 a.m. ET with action on the track starting at starting at 3 p.m. ET. Live results can be found at: https://auburntige.rs/2Tb4u7r.
"This should be a very competitive meet," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "This is one of those meets where you've probably got a very strong field of schools. The times from this meet last year were very, very fast. I expect the same thing this weekend."
The meet will feature a strong field that will include host Clemson, Alabama, Campbell, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida State, Georgia Tech, UCF, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Wake Forest.
The meet will be the debut of three Tigers that also compete on the Auburn football team. Sophomore Noah Igbinoghene, who helped Auburn as a freshman in the long and triple jump, will be in action, while highly touted freshmen sprinters Anthony Schwartz and Shaun Shivers will make their debut in an Auburn track uniform.
"This weekend I'm planning on opening up Anthony, Shaun and Noah," Spry said. "Those three guys, they've been itching to go. Shivers and Schwartz have been training for three weeks now so they're really looking good. They've got a little bit of track rhythm going but I think we'll probably keep it short and sweet with them."
Igbinoghene jumped in two indoor and three outdoor meets as a freshman in 2018. In just his second indoor meet, the Trusville, Ala., native finished seventh at the SEC Indoor Championships in the triple jump (15.24m).
"We'll probably just let him take three jumps per event and not overdo it," Spry said. "Noah is a sharp kid. Hard, hard worker. I'm excited about him. He's a guy that in the right circumstances, is capable of going over 53 feet and 25 feet in the long jump, which will score really good in our conference and probably qualify for nationals."
A highly touted prep, Schwartz was named the Gatorade national boys track and field athlete of the year after winning the 2018 Florida State Class 2A 100m (10.07w) and 200m (20.41w) in record times. Last summer IAAF U20 World Championships in Finland in July, 2018, the Pembroke Pines, Fla., native won a silver medal in 100m (10.22) and gold medal in 4x100 relay (38.88) for Team USA.
One of the top prep sprinters in Florida, Shivers Finished second only to Schwartz at 200m (20.92) and third at 100m (10.39) at 2018 Florida State Class 2A Championships.
"For Anthony and Shaun -- there's a transition period (from football to track). Our biggest thing is just making sure we stay smart, keep them feeling good," Spry said. "Workouts have been going great. This weekend is going to be fun to kind of see where they are. My main thing with those guys is, let's just go there and compete, see where we are and give us a start point. I think, the way they compete, you're going to see some pretty good times with those guys."
Last weekend at the Vanderbilt Invitational the field events, in particular the jumps, led the Auburn efforts. Freshman Dontavious Hill and senior Mark Rubalcaba both took second in their respective events. Hill grabbed silver in the high jump clearing a collegiate-best 2.13m/6-11.75, just missing his lifetime best of 2.14m. Rubalcaba competing in the triple jump for the first time this season, posted a leap of 15.18m/49-9.75 on his sixth and final attempt to finish second.
Auburn travels to Bob Pollock Invitational
