Burchell Opens 2015 Outdoor Season This Weekend with Crimson Tide at Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville

Published by Alabama SID on April 1, 2015

The University of Alabama track & field team travels to Gainesville, Fla., for the 2015 Pepsi Florida Relays this Thursday-Saturday, April 2-4, hosted by the University of Florida. It will be the team's first road meet of the 2015 outdoor season, as the Tide is coming off two straight weekends of home competition. In March, the Tide hosted the Alabama Relays to open the season, welcoming 67 teams to the Sam Bailey Track and Field Complex, as well as playing host to the eight-team Crimson Tide Invitational. Over the course of both home meets, Alabama collected 18 individual event wins and numerous personal records across all disciplines.

A total of 41 athletes (25 women, 16 men) will make the journey to Gainesville to compete in the Florida Relays, which features three days of collegiate and high school competition. The Tide has competitors entered in 32 events, including four relays. Of those 32 events, eight are invite sections in which eight Alabama athletes and one Tide relay will compete.

"The Florida Relays is historically a very competitive meet. There will be a lot of great athletes performing at their very best at this meet. I think our athletes will be challenged by the competition, but I believe it will bring out some of their best performances. This is a chance for them to compete against some of the best in the country, and I believe they'll rise to the occasion. We've had two weeks of hard training and home-meet competition, so I think this group is really ready to step onto the track this weekend and show how far they've come in their training."