AUBURN, Ala. - Back on The Plains for the lone time this season, Auburn track & field to hosts its annual Tiger Track Classic Saturday, April 20, at Hutsell-Rosen Track. Running events will start at 8:30 a.m. CT with the women's 5000m and field events will begin at 9:30 a.m. CT with women's high jump. The Tigers will honor the 13 members of their senior class at 6:15 p.m. CT.
Coming off a split weekend with solid outings at both the Tom Jones Memorial and Bryan Clay Invitational, the Tigers look to capitalize on the positive momentum and put on a good show in front of a home crowd.
"We had a solid weekend," Auburn track & field head coach Leroy Burrell said. "We are looking forward to bringing it home and showing our Auburn fans and supporters what we can do here at home. We are ready to put up some nice performances."
The highlight of the weekend came from the 4x100m relay team posting the No. 1 time in the nation from the quartet of juniors Favour Ashe and Dario Matau, sophomore Azeem Fahmi, freshman Kanyinsola Ajayi in Gainesville (38.64).
Graduate student Amy Warren finished in first place for the second time this outdoor season with a PR mark of 13.03m in triple jump. Warren is currently No. 1 in the SEC.
Competing in her hometown of Gainesville, freshman Zuriel Reed, had a PR worthy performance in the 400m hurdles to finish second overall (58.44).
For the throws group, sophomore Keyshawn Strachan placed third overall with a throw of 76.25m in javelin. That ranks him at No. 7 in the nation and No. 3 in the SEC.
While in Azusa, the distance runners put up solid times. Sophomore Gené Coetzee delivered her best collegiate performance in the women's 1500m invite (4:26.59).
"Max Hardin ran a solid 1500m race," coach Burrell said. "He put himself in regional qualifying range as well as Ryan Kinnane in the 5000m. We are in a good spot as far as the distance group. We are going to qualify more distance athletes to the preliminary qualifying round than we have in a while."
Entering the weekend, the Auburn men are ranked No. 13 in the most recent USTFCCCA poll.
"We're expecting a great crowd and great weather," Coach Burrell said. "We get to send our outstanding seniors off with recognition. It will be exciting."
It is going to be a weekend full of competition as the men and women compete against Alcorn State, NR/16 Florida State, Harvard, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, Samford, South Alabama and UAB.
"We're looking forward to a wonderful day of track and field as well as a wonderful day of support for our senior athletes," Coach Burrell said.
Live results from the meet can be found on deltatiming.com.
Up Next:
The Tigers will travel to Baton Rouge to compete in the LSU Invitational at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium Saturday, April 27.