Albany State to host Alice Coachman Invitational Track Meet
April 4, 2003
Albany State University (ASU) will host the 11th Annual Alice Coachman Invitational Track Meet on Saturday, April 5, at the ASU Track and Field Complex. Field events are slated to start at 10:30 a.m., with running events starting at 11:30 a.m. The awards ceremonies will begin at approximately 4:45 p.m.
Sponsored by the ASU Athletics Department, the track meet will feature Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and non-conference teams, including Clark Atlanta University, Paine College, Fort Valley State University, Clayton State University, Edward Waters College and Claflin College.
The annual track meet held in honor of Alice Coachman-Davis, the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Coachman-Davis made history and gained international attention by capturing the high jump title with record-setting jump of 5' 6 1/8" during the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
While the 1948 games catapulted her to international acclaim and the first endorsement among African-American women, she had proven herself as a major track and field force in prior years. She won 10 consecutive U.S. titles in the high jump and national titles at 50-meters, 100-meters and as a member in the 400-meter relay on the Tuskegee championship team. Many believe she would have dominated the 1940 and 1944 Summer Games, which were cancelled because of World War II.
The Albany, Ga., native attended Tuskegee University, but earned her bachelor's degree from Albany State (College) after returning from the 1948 games. As a collegian, she was a member of three Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) championship basketball teams. She dominated Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) competitions in the high jump. From 1938 to 1948, she won 10 consecutive AAU high jump titles, a record which still holds today.
In 1994, she established the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation, a nonprofit organization that assists both young athletes and retired Olympians.
For more information about the meet, call 430-4761 or 430-4673.
