Alabama at NCAA's

  At least five Alabama prep track products are competing at this weekend's NCAA Division I Championships in Sacramento, California. Only the very best of all collegiate athletes earn the chance to compete at the national meet, as all competitors are required to qualify in regional competition (similar to the sectional/state system for Alabama).

Alabama has already been well-represented by Mississippi State freshman Trey Hardee. Hardee, who prepped at Vestavia Hills, competed in the decathlon competition which concluded Thursday.

After placing third in the SEC decathlon, he was seeded to finish in the top ten at the national meet. But an outstanding second day, led by strong performances in the 110m hurdles and pole vault (his main event from high school) moved him all the way from eleventh to fifth, good enough to score four points for the Bulldogs.

Hardee's MSU teammate, sophomore Tiffany McWilliams from Red Bay, AL, has been one of the nation's star distance runners all season. On Thursday she lived up to her billing as one of the favorites to win the women's 1500 meter championship. In typical T-Mac fashion, McWilliams had the fastest prelim time in the field, 4:10.8. That clocking is a two-second personal best for the sophomore sensation and just two more seconds off the NCAA meet record. She will compete for the 1500m championship (and perhaps the record) on Saturday.

Alabama's other hopeful for a national crown is Southern Miss high jumper Cedric Norman. Norman, a 2000 Central-Tuscaloosa graduate, has been consistently over 7 feet all season, including a 7-3 effort to win the Alabama Relays, a 7-5.25 jump to win the Conference USA meet, set a new conference and school record, and automatically qualify for the national meet. Norman was also the Mid-East Regional champion and yesterday tied with eight other jumpers at 7' 1.25". All nine advance to Saturday's finals, where Norman will have the top seasonal performance amongst all competitors. The only athlete who's jumped better than Norman's 7-5.25 this season failed to make finals.

Auburn University senior Tim Green, an Auburn High School graduate, runs a leg of the Tiger 4x400m relay team. In yesterday's prelims, Green and his teammates won the third heat in 3:05.08 to qualify for Saturday's finals.

Finally, Pelham High graduate Althea Thomas, now a senior at LSU, ran 1:00.10 in her 400m hurdle prelim race. Though Thomas did not advance to the semifinals with that time, she may represent Alabama as the only member of a national championship team. Updated rankings from Trackwire project the Lady Tigers to claim the title in a five-point victory over Texas, 62 to 57.

Follow Alabama's athletes and the rest of the NCAA action at http://www.hornetsports.com/ncaa/results.asp.