The UA men and women’s track and field teams will be traveling to Birmingham, Alabama, to compete in the 2016 Conference Clash Power Five Invitational.
The meet is hosted by the Auburn and Tennessee track and field teams and is set to take place at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
It will be a treat for the Arizona athletes to compete at this world-class track and field facility. The 750,000-square-foot facility contains a six-lane oval hydraulic track and has eight 60-meter lanes for the sprint and hurdle events.
Competing against the Wildcats will be the two hosting teams, Auburn and Tennessee. Joining them will be Alabama, Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Purdue, South Carolina, Texas, USC and Vanderbilt.
This meet will serve as a big challenge for the Track Cats, as they will be competing against some elite Division I schools.It serves as an even greater opportunity for the Wildcats by allowing the athletes to see where they stand nationally and how they compete against some of the best track talents in the country.
One of these Wildcats is Pau Tonnesen, Arizona’s senior high jumper, pole vaulter and decathlete, among others.
Tonnesen took second place in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships the last track season. He started off this season with a first-place finish and personal record in the pole vault event at the Lumberjack Team Challenge at NAU with a mark of 17-6.5 (5.35 m).
Tonnesen will look to continue this success at the 2016 Conference Clash Power Five Invitational.
The women’s 4×400 meter relay will be an event to keep an eye on. Arizona’s first team is made up by Nneya Hailey, Tatum Waggoner, Gia Trevisan and Jasper Gray.
This team beat the competition by nearly five seconds at the Lumberjack team challenge with their first place finish.
They will look to show off their speed against the other skillful relay teams that will be competing.
The meet is set to start Friday at 2 p.m. with the men’s high Jump. On Saturday the meet will kick off at 11 a.m. with men’s pole vault and women’s long jump.
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