BIRMINGHAM – The Alabama State women's and men's indoor track teams opened the 2011-12 season Thursday at the Early Bird Invite at the Birmingham Crossplex hosted by the University of Alabama Birmingham, Samford, and Birmingham Southern.
Tia Rolle led the Lady Hornets with a first-place finish in the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.59 seconds, edging past Florida A&M's Jasmine Smith (7.60), and UAB's Alexis Bates (7.61). Alabama State's Jasmine Pope finished fourth (7.63). Rolle also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time 25:02.
In the 800-meter run, Lutricia Altador finished second with a time of 2:17.74. Teammate Jerrica Mahone finished sixth with a time of 2:23.95.
ASU finished 5-6-7 in the 60-meter hurdles, with
Tyrisha Chambers (9.16),
Paris Thompson (9.21) and Narricka Williams (9.31) finishing in successive order. Chambers also finished fourth in the high jump, clearing 1.64 meters (5 feet, 4.5 inches).
On the men's side, Quantiavious Lockhart won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.20.
Vincent Butler finished 6
th in the 400-meter dash in a time of 49.57. Lee Thrasher finished third in the shot put with a distance of 14.33 meters (47 feet, 00.25 inches).
“I think we saw a lot of positive things today,” head coach
Ritchie Beene said. “Our sprints looked very good. We had success in the throws, hurdles, and mid-distance races. Coach
LaShaunda Jones is doing a great job with the sprints. For the first meet, I liked what we did, but I still think we have a lot of work to do to be contenders in the conference”
Not only was it the Hornets first time competing in the new Birmingham Crossplex Indoor Facility which opened earlier this year, but for many of the ASU runners also a new experience running on a banked track.
“The kids were excited about it,” Beene said. “It gives them a lot of speed off the curve and gave them something to look forward to because they know that. I think just the idea that the curve was going to help them run faster allowed them to push themselves to run harder to get good times today.”
Both ASU teams will return to action January 13 in the UAB Blazer Invite at the Birmingham Crossplex.
“It was a positive experience today in a great facility,” Beene said. “I'm looking forward to coming back January.”
