Champ Central
Day One Men's Results
Day One Women's Results
The American Digital Network
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Tulsa men and UCF women lead the team standings through the first day of competition at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at the UCF Soccer and Track Complex.
The Tulsa men’s squad earned 23 points in the men's 10,000-meter run to boost the team into first place, narrowly leading second-place UConn (21). The Huskies are followed by Cincinnati (11) in third, and USF (10) in fourth place. Tulane is in fifth place with six points, while Houston (4) and Memphis (3) are sixth and seventh, respectively.
Through two events, UCF holds a nine-point lead on the women's side. The Knights scored 13 points in the 10,000 meter and 11 points in the hammer throw to combine for 24 points. SMU and Cincinnati are tied with 13 points each, while UConn trails in fourth place by one point (12). East Carolina’s eight points are good for fifth place, while USF is in sixth with four points. Houston (2) and Tulane (1) each scored in the women’s hammer throw, while Tulsa (1) earned a point in the 10,000 meter.
The Golden Hurricane took the top-two spots and four of the top seven in the men's 10,000-meter run. Junior Luke Traynor paced the field with a stadium-record finish of 30:39.59. Teammate Tim Rackers finished in second place, (30:49.23), while Tulane sophomore Moses Aloiloi placed third (31:03.45).
UCF’s Anne-Marie Blaney claimed the women’s 10,000-meter title and set a new stadium record as she crossed the finish line in 34:46.67. UConn senior Emily Durgin placed second (35:35.28), followed by SMU’s Michelle Gaye in third (35:51.50). The Mustangs took three of the top-seven spots in the event.
In the first event of the day, UConn’s Chris Ackell claimed his second consecutive men’s hammer throw title with a mark of 59.95 meters. USF senior Devin Screen took second place (56.38 meters), while Cincinnati’s Josh Province rounded out the top three (56.34 meters).
Cincinnati sophomore Annette Echikunwoke set an American Athletic Conference championship record as she won the women’s hammer throw with a 61.40-meter toss. East Carolina senior Kayla Padgett followed with a 58.46-meter throw. UCF’s Chelsea Gobourne finished in third place (57.72 meters).
The American’s two-time decathlon champion, Memphis senior Luis Hanssler, leads the field of eight athletes with 3,879 points through five events. Junior Patrick Meyer of UConn currently sits in second place with 3,667 points. In third place is Cincinnati sophomore Alex Bloom, with 3,267 points.
In the heptathlon, back-to-back champion Lucija Cvitanovic of SMU leads the field of eight athletes with a score of 3,246 through four events. East Carolina’s Amina Ghaffar is in second with 3,084 points, while Memphis sophomore Martine Bye trails Ghaffar by seven points (3,077). Cvitanovic and Bye each reached 1.75 meters in the heptathlon high jump, surpassing Cvitanovic’s previous meet record of 1.73 meters. In the heptathlon shot put, Bye hit 13.04 meters to set a meet record. The three remaining events; the long jump, javelin and 800-meter run, will begin tomorrow at noon ET.
Day two of the championship begins with the men's discus throw at 10 a.m. ET on Friday. For complete coverage of the 2016 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, visit The American's Championship Central at www.theamerican.org/OTF. Updates will also be published to the @AmericanXCTrack Twitter handle, and a live stream will be available at
www.theamerican.org/dn.
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