Albany State University (ASU) will host the Seventh Annual Alice Coachman Invitational Track Meet on Saturday, April 3, at 10:30 a.m. at Hugh Mills Memorial Stadium. 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 Savannah State University, Morehouse College, Tuskegee University and Edward Waters College.
The annual track meet is named for 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 912.430.4761 or 912.430.4673.
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