AUBURN, Ala.—The Auburn indoor track and field team will compete for the third weekend in a row when it travels to the South Carolina Invitational, February 5-6, in Columbia, S.C. The highly competitive meet will feature six SEC programs and 11 ranked teams overall. Auburn is ranked 21st nationally on the women's side by the USTFCCCA.
Competing teams (with M/W rankings), include: Alabama (15/9), Auburn (--/21), Cincinnati, Clemson (--/15), Florida (--/19), Furman, Georgia Tech, Kentucky (22/12), North Carolina A&T (7/--), Ole Miss (6/18), South Carolina (--/17), Georgia (Multis), Notre Dame (Multis) and Wake Forest (Multis).
"Every weekend we go against some stiff competition and it will be no different this weekend with a lot of ranked teams and Power 5 programs," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "I want to see progression from our team. We've had kids that have gotten sharper. This weekend I want to see more fight. It's not always about the marks, it's how you compete. If you compete hard and the environment is there, and the competition is there, the marks will take care of themselves."
Auburn enters the weekend with two women ranked in the nation's top 10, including junior Madi Malone who has the nation's top mark in the weight throw, while junior Joyce Kimeli is No. 8 in the country at 3000m.
On the men's side, the Tigers have five athletes in the Top 25 nationally including junior high jumper Dontavious Hill who is ranked No. 7 after clearing 2.15m/7-0.5 two weeks ago at the same venue as this weekend. Heptathlete Alex Spyridonidis is No. 13 in the heptathlon, while pole vaulter James Courson and thrower Kyle Brown (weight throw) are No. 15 each in their respective event. Junior sprinter Christopher Grant, the bronze medalist at SECs last year in the 60m dash will make his 2021 debut this weekend.
Friday's slate will feature the multi events with the men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon. Competing in the multis for Auburn include sophomore David Edmondson and freshman John Murray on the men's side and senior Keira McCarrell on the women's side. Action begins at 9:30 a.m. ET with the pentathlon 60m hurdles.
A full day of action on Saturday will begin at 9 a.m. ET with the conclusion of the men's heptathlon. Field events will start at 11 a.m. ET with the men's weight throw, while running events start at 11:05 a.m. ET with trials in the men's 60m hurdles. Saturday's competition will be streamed live on ESPN+ for those who have a subscription.
Live results will be available at https://results.adkinstrak.com/meets/6843.