Sports

Running for Alice

• For the 16th year, men’s and women’s track & field stars from the SIAC will converge on Albany bright and early Saturday morning for the annual Alice Coachman Invitational.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — When Tamika Kinchen first became a student at Albany State, she walked into the school’s library and saw an exhibit featuring Dougherty County native and former Lady Rams star Alice Coachman, who also was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

“I didn’t know too much about it until I came here,” Kinchen said of Coachman, who won gold in the high jump during the 1948 Summer Games in London. “I didn’t know at the time she was the first African-American to win. And now that I know, I try to share that with other people. She has set goals for other African-American women to follow.”

Coachman, who attended what now is known as Monroe High School and competed at what then was known as the Tuskegee Institute and Albany State, is a member of several Halls of Fame, including those of the USA Track & Field, the state of Georgia’s, SIAC, Tuskegee and Albany State. And during Saturday’s 16th Annual Alice Coachman Track & Field Invitational at Albany State and Hugh Mills Stadium, the competition is only a subplot.

The message of Coachman takes center stage.

“I think it’s a very inspirational message for African-American women, showing how far we can go,” Lady Ram Estella Moore said of Coachman, who now is known as Alice Coachman-Davis and lives in Tuskegee, Ala. “We should all follow in her footsteps.”

Saturday’s meet, which as of Thursday had commitments from six other SIAC teams (one of them is men’s-only Morehouse, which ex-Westover star Brandon Morgan competes on) and an Atlanta-based track club.

For Albany State, it is its only opportunity to compete at home.

“We have a chance to show everyone what we’ve been doing,” Albany State men’s coach Marvin Oliver said.

Kinchen has done a lot as of late, setting both the school and conference record, as well as this year’s fastest time in NCAA Division II in the 800 meters (2 minutes, 10.72 seconds) last weekend at Florida State. She also set a school record in the 1,500 (4:41.88) two weeks ago at the same school.

She now is the No. 1 ranked runner in Division II in the 800, and after siting out last year for personal reasons, Kinchen appears not to have missed a beat.

And none of this surprises women’s coach Kenneth Taylor.

“I saw it coming when she came in last fall for cross country,” Taylor said. “She had a great start with that. Her work ethic is impeccable and she balances that off with a great GPA in the classroom. She’s the hardest-working person on the team. She does her repetitions back-to-back-to-back. She’s easily coachable.”

Moore, who has the nation’s seventh-fastest time this year in the 100 (12.46), and set the school record (11.63) when she placed fifth at nationals last spring, also shows plenty of promise.

“She’ll run even faster before the season is over,” Taylor said.

On the men’s side, coach Marvin Oliver aims to qualify runners for nationals both in the 4x100 (Rodney Coley, Garion Martin, Isaiah Gay, Timothy Ellsberry) and for and the 100. Coley and Martin already have had success this season, advancing to the national indoor meet in the 200 with Coley finishing second.

Also, two former Westover stars at Albany State, Derrick Cubbage (decathlon) and Eric McCrary (hammer throw) are among other area athletes besides Morehouse’s Morgan who will compete Saturday.

“Being from Albany and having a home crowd that shows support, it would be better for us and give us more confidence,” Cubbage said.

McCrary could not agree more.

“It’s a huge privilege,” said McCrary who holds the school record in his event (45 meters). “I know what I can do. I don’t think I’m going to be nervous or anything. If I get into the zone, I won’t worry about anyone around me.”

Oliver just worries about folks coming out to support his talented team at a track meet which has become a fixture of the Albany sports community for the last 16 years.

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