BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UCF Knights took home the women’s title and Houston won its third-straight men’s title at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.
The Knights won their first American Indoor Track and Field Championship in school history beating Cincinnati by two points, 122 to 120. The 122 points by UCF is the highest team score in conference history. The Houston Cougars finished third (99) followed by UConn (92), Tulane (52), SMU (44), Memphis (43), East Carolina (38), Tulsa (20), Temple (17) and USF (15). The UCF coaching staff was named coaching staff of the year, and UCF’s Anne-Marie Blaney was named Most Outstanding Track Performer. Cincinnati’s Annette Echikunwoke earned Women’s Most Outstanding Field Performer.
The Cougars set a meet record for total points with a score of 174 points, beating the old record of 158 set by UConn in 2014. UConn came back to take second-place with a score of 111.50 and Tulsa finished in third with 109 points. Memphis (93), Cincinnati (69), East Carolina (57) and USF (45.50) round out the men’s teams scores. The Cougars coaching staff was named coaching staff of the year, Marc Scott from Tulsa was named Men’s Most Outstanding Track Performer and Cincinnati’s Adrian Valles was named Men’s Most Outstanding Field Performer.
UCF’s win came down to the final event of the day as the Knights finished third in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:40.93. Cincinnati won the event with a time of 3:40.13 but the six points the Knights earned was enough for the title.
UCF’s Rosie Chamberlain repeated as the women’s 800-meter run with a time of 2:08.69. Chamberlain beat out two UConn Huskies, Alexis Panisse (2:10.82) and Katie Foley (2:10.84), who finished second and third.
The women’s 60-meter hurdles were decided by two-thousandths of a second as Johna’ Whitaker from UCF (8.437) just nudged Jessica Duckett from Tulane (8.439). Tulane also took the bronze in the event with freshman Brandi Hughes clocking a time of 8.48.
UCF’s J’Nea Bellamy went back-to-back in the women’s 60-meter dash with a time of 7.37. Sierra Smith of Houston (7.44) finished in second and UCF’s Alissa Williams (7.46) finished in third.
Houston’s win was more comfortable and came on the back of a dominating performance on the track in the finals.
The Cougars swept the podium in the men’s 200-meter race with Cameron Burrell running a blazing 20.84 for first place. Mario Burke (21.14) and Amere Lattin (21.16) earned silver and bronze respectively.
The Cougars also took home gold and silver in the men’s 60-meter dash with Mario Burke (6.581) just beating defending champion Cameron Burrell (6.590). Davon DeMoss of Memphis finished in third with a time of 6.68.
Amere Lattin took home gold in the men’s 60-meter hurdles. It was the Cougars third-straight year with a win in the event. Lattin (8.09) beat UConn’s Stephon Henry (8.10) by one one-hundredth of a second. East Carolina’s Hakeem Horton finished in third with a time of 8.16.
Chris Ibarra of Houston took home the top time in the men’s 800-meter, pulling away with a time of 1:51.80. Cincinnati’s Michael Vitucci (1:52.35) took home silver and East Carolina’s Stefano Migliorati (1:52.47) finished in third.
In the men’s shot put, Houston’s Cameron Cornelius won his third title in the last four years with a throw of 18.43m that the junior threw in his first attempt. Cincinnati’s Macklin Tudor (18.25m) and Luke Vaughn from Memphis (18.16m) took home second and third.
Houston’s Nathaniel Mechler set a meet record in the pentathlon with 5,636 points. Mechler won the pentathlon after a meet record in the 1000m, posting a time of (2:40.55). Simon Hosten (5,591) and Lennard Biere (5,444), both from Memphis, took home second and third.
UCF’s senior Anne-Marie Blaney was named most outstanding track performer after setting a meet record in a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run (16:07.85), and second place finishes in both the mile (43:50.06) and the 3,000-meter (9:23.80).
Annette Echikunwoke of Cincinnati was named most outstanding field performer after setting a meet record with an NCAA best weight throw (22.69m) and a second place finish in the shot put (15.99m).
Marc Scott from Tulsa earned men’s most outstanding track performer owning the distance runs. Scott anchored the winning distance medley relay team for the Golden Hurricane and won both the men’s mile (4:12.17) and the 3,000-meter (8:09.53) on day two of the championships.
The men’s most outstanding field performer was Adrian Valles of Cincinnati whose pole vault of 5.60m was a meet record and the third best mark in the NCAA this year.
Freshman Devine Oladipo from UConn won the women’s shot put with a meet record throw of 16.41m. Lauretta Blaut earned Cincinnati 10 team points with a win in the high-jump. It was the fourth straight year that a Bearcat has won the high jump as the junior cleared 1.73m without a miss. In the women’s triple jump, Tonyecia Burks from Houston took home the gold with a jump of 12.99m.
On the women’s side in the track events, Memphis junior Martina Rodriguez Sala took home gold in the women’s mile run and set a meet record (4:48.07) in the process. UConn’s Emily Durgin won the women’s 3,000m in a meet record 9:21.04. In the women’s 400-meter dash, Bryana Robinson of Cincinnati finished with a first place time of 53.52. Houston’s Tori Williams took home gold in the 200-meter with a meet record time of 23.34.
In the men’s field events, the men’s high jump belonged to Memphis sophomore Jordan Wesner. Wesner cleared 2.17m to win gold, 12 cm higher than the second place finishers. The men’s triple jump was won by Olushola Olojo of Memphis who lept 15.40m.
On the track, Cincinnati swept the 400-meter dashes as Jimmy Brooks took home gold in the men’s 400-meter final. Brooks won the event in a time of 47.28. The Memphis Tigers won the final event of the day, the men’s 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:13.96.
WOMEN’S TEAMS SCORES
1. UCF 122
2. Cincinnati 120
3. Houston 99
4. UConn 92
5. Tulane 52
6. SMU 44
7. Memphis 43
8. East Carolina 38
9. Tulsa 20
10. Temple 17
11. USF 15
MEN’S TEAMS SCORES
1. Houston 174
2. UConn 111.50
3. Tulsa 109
4. Memphis 93
5. Cincinnati 69
6. East Carolina 57
7. USF 45.50
WOMEN’S MOST OUTSTANDING TRACK ATHLETE
Anne-Marie Blaney, Sr., UCF
WOMEN’S MOST OUTSTANDING FIELD ATHLETE
Annette Echikunwoke, Jr., Cincinnati
WOMEN’S COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
UCF
MEN’S MOST OUTSTANDING TRACK ATHLETE
Marc Scott, Sr., Tulsa
MEN’S MOST OUTSTANDING FIELD ATHLETE
Adrian Valles, Jr., Cincinnati
MEN’S COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
Houston
All-Conference performers are top-three finishers in each event.