Auburn, Ala.—The Auburn track and field program is back in action this weekend, February 1-2, at the Carolina Challenge in the Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex in Columbia, S.C. It is the Tigers second of three straight weekends in the Palmetto State.
"This is a big meet with several Power 5 programs and will be very competitive," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "They've got a brand new indoor track and this is the second competition they've had on it. It'll be very similar to the track at Clemson. It's going to provide us another platform to see where we are against some really good competition. I'm excited about where we are. We still have a lot of work to do, no question about it, to get better, to be ready for the SECs."
Auburn is coming off the Bob Pollock Invitational last weekend at Clemson that featured one school freshman record broken and another one tied.
Redshirt freshman Joyce Kimeli broke the 25-year old Auburn freshman record in the women's 3000m in 9:30.14, destroying the previous school rookie record of 9:49.32 set by Kathi Ward in 1994. Kimeli, who qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships this past fall, was competing for the first time ever indoors.
Freshman sprinter Anthony Schwartz, making his collegiate debut, won the men's 60m dash in 6.65 tying Marcus Rowland's Auburn freshman record in the event set in 2009.
"We've got a really strong tradition at Auburn," Spry said. "If you look back over the years, over our top ten times, our school records, we've got a pretty high level, world class list. Joyce [Kimeli] broke a record that was 25 years old, and that just tells you the way she's been running. And of course, Anthony, he looked like a million bucks last weekend. He won going away in both the prelims and the finals. I've had some great sprinters, and he's a special kid."
Sophomore Caroline Lawrence joined Schwartz as the two Tiger event winners at the Pollock Invite. She cleared a personal best 1.74m/5-8.5 in the women's high jump to win gold, edging out teammate Skyler Daniel.
Action Friday will begin at 10 a.m. ET with the women's weight throw with track events beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Live results can be found at https://auburntige.rs/2MJdiih.