After dominating in their home meet, the men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to compete in the Crimson Tide Invitational. The Golden Eagles kept momentum by putting strong times against a much tougher competition.

The Golden Eagles faced several strong teams from the power five conferences some of which were Alabama, Missouri, Louisville and Mississippi State. Some other notable teams in attendance were Western Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Lipscomb and Memphis.

The men’s short distance put together a strong outing against a tough field. Junior Cra’Vorkian Carson won the 100m dash running a 10.45. In the men’s 200m dash, junior Alexander Richemond ran 21.49 to finish ninth overall. In the men’s 400m dash, senior Curtis Walker ran a 47.86 to finish fifth.

In the women’s short distance, the best performances came in the women’s 100m dash with sophomore Kadaria Thompson and freshman Keiyana Gaskin finishing sixth and seventh running 11.97 and 11.98, respectively. For the rest of the short distance, the stiffer competition prevailed, but the times remained solid. In the women’s 200m dash, freshman Paris Warner ran 26.09 finishing 27th overall and in the women’s 400m dash freshman Aireanna Taylor finished 16th running a 57.14.

The women’s distance team had another record-breaking weekend. In the 800m run, senior Courtney Filliben finished fifth overall running a 2:09 and freshman Natalya Hall- Dekleva finished 11th running a 2:13. In the 1500m run, freshman Regen McGee ran a 4:28, eight seconds faster than her season best finishing fifth.

The Golden Eagles won both the men and women’s 5000m races. Senior Dana Dillistone broke another school record in the 5000m run. illistone won her event, running a 16:44 and beating Louisville’s Claire Noser by .47 seconds. For the men’s 5000m race, freshman Patton Little ran 14:45 and picked up a second win in a row after winning his first 5000m race.

“Dana [Dillistone] was as smooth and steady as ever,” said assistant coach Aaron Kindt. “She was fantastic getting into position early in a big race and finding her rhythm. With each lap, she gained more confidence, and you could see her realize not only could she hit the record, but also could win the race.”

Both the men and women’s relay team struggled. The men’s 4×100 placed fourth running a 40.37 and the women’s 4×100 finished seventh overall running a 46.03.

The men and women’s field had their weakest performances of the year. In the men’s shot put, freshman Robert Watson finished last throwing a 12.91m and junior Donald Daley fouled out. Watson and Daley had similar results in the discus where they threw 46.59m and 45.85 and finished 13th and 14th overall, respectively.

Watson continued to have a rough meet finishing last in the hammer throw and throwing a 43.89m. Daley finished eighth in the hammer throw throwing 50.97m. In the javelin throw, senior Emron Gibbs threw 67.39m to finish second and sophomore Thomas Peters threw 63.94m finished fifth.

In the women’s shot put, junior Brashe Wood threw 15.15m to finish sixth and sophomore Danisha Jones threw 13.92 to finish tenth. In the women’s discus throw, Jones threw 50.54m finishing fourth, and Junior Brashe Wood threw 46.81m to finish seventh. In hammer throw, freshman Nadia Maffo finished second throwing 59.33m, missing first place by .21m, and Jones finished 11th overall throwing a 51.36m.

The Golden Eagles return to action on April 13 at the South Alabama Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.