Alabama defensive back Tony Brown will run the 100-meter dash at the United States Track & Field Outdoor Championships this weekend with an opportunity to earn a spot on the U.S. national team.
The event will be held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif., and Brown is among 13 UA athletes competing in national championship events this week, per UA Media Relations. The 100-meter dash events will be held at 9:35 p.m. ET on Thursday, 8:31 p.m. ET on Friday (semifinals), and 11:02 p.m. ET on Friday (finals). To make the U.S. national team, Brown would have to finish in the top three in his event, and meet a qualifying standard. Brown ran a 10.12-second 100-meter dash on June 7 at the NCAA Championships, finishing in 11th place. It was a personal best for Brown.
If he makes the U.S. national team, he'll face a schedule conflict with Alabama football practice. The track team will compete in the IAAF World Championships in London, Aug. 4-13, and the Crimson Tide begins fall camp on Aug. 2.
Brown is an exceptional athlete and one of the fastest players in college football, although playing time has been hard to come by for much of his career. He was suspended by the NCAA for the first four games of 2016, but saw the most extensive action of his career later in the season after safety Eddie Jackson, now a Chicago Bears rookie, was lost to a leg injury. Brown, a senior this fall, exited spring practice working with the first-team defense as a nickelback.
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