Amankwah sets Men's 800 School and National Record in Alabama

Alex Amankwah

University of Alabama junior Alex Amankwah broke the school record in the men's 800 meters while running the fastest time by a collegian this season, and defending NCAA champion Remona Burchell impressed while winning the 60-meter dash in her 2015 debut to lead the Crimson Tide on a hugely successful Saturday at the Vanderbilt Indoor Invitational.

Amankwah broke an 11-year-old Crimson Tide record set in 2004 by Peter Etoot in dominating the field in the men's 800, crossing the line in 1 minute, 46.86 seconds, .04 faster than Etoot's previous standard of 1:46.90. Burchell twice broke the facility record in the women's 60, running two of the 10 fastest times in Alabama history with a 7.28 in the preliminary heats and a winning 7.25 in the final, a time that ranks sixth in Alabama history.

Crimson Tide athletes compiled four event victories (two men's and two women's) while producing nine performances (six women's, three men's) that rank in the school's all-time top 10 in seven events (five women's. two men's) on an impressive day by the Alabama at the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility. Alabama picked up individual victories in the women's 60-meter dash, the women's 400 meters, the men's 60-meter hurdles, and the men's 800 meters.

"This was a tip-top day for us, as we had several excellent performances by several of our people," said head coach Dan Waters. "I can't say enough about Alex Amankwah, Remona Burchell, Cameron Hudson, Jacopo Lahbi, Tony Brown . . . and several others today. We had several people punch their tickets to the NCAA meet today and, for this early in the season, that's a big deal. We still need to work on some things regarding the overall competitive toughness of our team. But today was a big day for us."