Tide at SEC track meet

TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete this weekend in the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Auburn.

The heptathlon competition begins today for both men and women. The meet will continue through Sunday.

Half of the conference women’s teams are ranked. LSU is No. 2, followed by No. 9 Florida, No. 13 Arkansas, No. 19 Mississippi, No. 23 Tennessee and No. 25 Auburn.

Alabama looks to improve on its 10th-place finish last year, being led by All-American Trish Bartholomew. The team will also lean on newcomer Betty Rotich, who just missed the 5,000-meter SEC title by one second during the indoor season.

Bartholomew won the 400-meter indoor championship. Alabama has not produced an outdoor 400-meter champion since 1994.

Talaya Owens comes into the meet with the second-fastest 400-meter hurdles time in the SEC at 58.10, one of only five competitors under the one-minute mark.

Lynda Cooper will try to improve on her fifth-place finish from the indoor meet. She broke the school outdoor record with a clearance of 12-07.50.

Among the men, seven teams are in the Top 25 — No. 3 Florida, No. 4 LSU, No. 8 Auburn, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 17 Kentucky and No. 24 Georgia.

Alabama looks to improve on its ninth-place finish last year by returning most of the team as well as a few newcomers, including the school record-holder in the 10,000 meters, Tyson David.

Augustus Maiyo placed second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Emmanuel Bor was third in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters last year. Both are back.

David was the 5,000-meter indoor champion. Maiyo comes into the meet with the fastest steeplechase time in the league at 8:35.36. Bor has the fastest 5,000-meter time in the SEC at 13:45.84 as well the second-fastest 1,500-meter time of 3:42.02.