GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In an Alabama track and field weekend that encompassed two meets on different ends of the country and was drenched in Crimson Tide highlights, the strongest outing for the Crimson Tide came from Portious Warren .

The senior thrower continued her rampage through the Alabama record book on Saturday, bettering her own school record mark in the shot put and becoming the first UA woman to go over 57 feet in the shot put outdoors when she posted a toss of 57-02.25 (17.43m). Her mark came on her last attempt at the Florida Relays, where she took second place and was the top collegian in the event. With that throw, she is also ranked No. 1 in the nation.

"The cool thing about it was Portious had been throwing well technically throughout the meet but going into the last throw I told her to go out there and compete with emotion," UA throws coach Derek Yush said. "I told all three of them that and they did just that and while they were still good throws from a technical standpoint, they were able to get something extra and close things out with some really great marks."

Warren already bettered the school record in the indoor shot put on her way to winning the SEC title with a mark of 56-09.25 (17.30m). She also medaled at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, taking third with another school record (57-01.5/17.41m) and helping push Alabama to a seventh-place team finish.

Fellow senior Haley Teel also put up a personal-best mark in the shot put with a throw of 56-02.5 (17.13m) at the Florida Relays, which ranks her third all-time at UA and third in the nation this season. Sophomore Nickolette Dunbar's mark of 53-00.0 (16.15m) in Gainesville has her sitting 13th nationally.

"It's setting us up for a special season," Yush said. "We've been going through some really hard training recently, so I was actually a little surprised - and really pleased - that we had these kinds of performances at this point in the season. If this is just the beginning, then we have a really bright season ahead of us."

All three women come out of the weekend ranked in the top-15 nationally, making Alabama the only school with three women in the top 40 of the shot put, much less the top 15.

"This is a very special group," Yush said. "To have three women throwing over 16 meters and two over 17 is awesome. There are not a lot of programs ever have that kind of fire power much less at one time. They are at practice everyday, trying hard, pushing each other and each success is spring boarding the others to continue to go harder and continue to get better."

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