AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn track & field opens the 2024 outdoor season in Atlanta, Georgia at the Yellow Jacket Invitational March 16. The meet will be held at the George C. Griffin Track starting with the men's discus at 8 am CT followed by the women.
"We're looking at this like a preseason meet," Auburn track & field head coach Leroy Burrell said. "We have a lot of athletes who have not competed in over three weeks since the conference championships. We're going to give it a run with some people and figure out our new pieces."
The men and women will face off against competitors from 15 other schools. The Tigers will go against No. 7/10 Georgia, Clemson, Missouri, and the host Georgia Tech.
Auburn looks to build off its successful indoor season with an even stronger showing outdoors. Three Tigers, Vimbayi Maisvorewa, Simone Johnson and Sanaa Barnes all earned second team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships a week ago. Barnes competed for the last time collegiately at the indoor championships, Johnson and Maisvorewa will be back for the outdoor season.
Key events for the women's side this season are the 4x400m, heptathlon, and distance runners.
At the Southeastern Conference Championships, sophomores Elise Heddens and Paula Grauvogel established PRs in the heptathlon. Grauvogel scored a lifetime best of 4,011 points and earned a silver medal.
"We also have a couple of new distance runners who we think will help us in the mile and the 5k," Coach Burrell said. "We got to see a little bit of that on the women's side at the SEC Championships with Camila Gomes."
Freshman Gomes qualified for the mile final at the indoor conference championships with the seventh fastest time in Auburn history (4:42.38).
"Our men's sprint group is an area where we can really do some things," Coach Burrell said. "Keyshawn Strachan is one of the best young javelin throwers in the world. He certainly has the potential to not only score at the NCAA level but make it to the international level of competition."
The team is looking to show off the sprints and throwers on the men's side.
With a time of 6.60, freshman Kanyinsola Ajayi, became the third Auburn man to win gold in the men's 60m dash in the last four years. He was selected as the 2024 SEC Men's Indoor Track & Field Freshman Runner of the Year by the conference office.
"We have a few things working in our favor that we weren't quite ready to do during indoors," Coach Burrell said. "We'll show the true character and strength of this team during the outdoor season. We look forward to kicking it off this weekend."
Live results for the meet can be found at pttiming.com.