HOUSTON, TEXAS – Four champions were crowned on the first day of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Houston.
The first gold medal of the championships was won by Cincinnati’s Annette Echikunwoke in the women’s hammer throw. Echikunwoke won her second-straight hammer throw title with a mark of 60.97m to earn Cincinnati the first 10 team points of the championships. UCF’s Chelsea Gobourne was second with a mark of 59.45m and Mikaila Martin from Houston finished third with a distance of 59.44m.
The men also competed in the hammer throw and two freshmen took the first two spots on the podium. UConn’s Cameron Thompson won the event with his throw of 60.23 and Aleks Rapp of Tulsa took second with a mark of 59.09m. Senior Damon Thompson from Houston finished in third with a throw of 58.71.
UConn’s Emily Durgin, who was on the heels of UCF’s Anne-Marie Blaney the whole race pulled away in the last lap to win the 10,000m with a meet record time of 34:28.06 and give the Huskies their second win of the day. Blaney finished in second with a time of 34:31.42 and SMU freshman Hannah Miller took home bronze in 34:47.28.
Tulsa took home first and second in the men’s 10,000m with Henry Pearce finishing first in 31:21.90 and Adam Roderique taking second with a time of 31:34.52. East Carolina’s Jorge Montes took bronze with a time of 31:43.21.
The men began the decathlon with five events on Friday and Cincinnati’s Alex Bloom sits on top of the standings with 4,034 points. UConn’s Patrick Meyer is second with 3,888 points and Lennard Biere from Memphis sits in third with 3,871 points.
Bloom finished first in the long jump, setting a conference decathlon record with a jump of 7.33m and the high jump with a clearance of 2.10m. He also finished second in both the 100m dash and the 400m dash.
Biere set a conference decathlon record with a mark of 15.81m in the shot put, and Houston’s Nathaniel Mechler set a meet record with a time of 48.60 in the 400m dash.
In the women’s heptathlon, Cincinnati’s Angelica Lightfoot is the leader after four events with 2,690 points. East Carolina’s Aminah Ghaffar is second with 2,903 points and the 2017 Indoor Track and Field Pentathlon champion, Cincinnati’s Naomi Urbano is third with 2,869 points.
Lightfoot won the shot put event with a throw of 12.23m, finished second in the 100m hurdles, third in the 200m dash and fourth in the high jump. Urbano won the high jump competition with a clearance of 1.64m and SMU’s Anna Novosadova won both the 100m hurdles (14.74) and the 200m dash in 25.85.
Three other events for the men and women - 200m, 400m hurdles, and 800m - had qualifying trials to determine the competitors for the finals on Sunday.
In the women’s 200m dash Houston’s Brianne Bethel (23.29) was the top qualifier followed by Memphis’s Cera Chavez (23.62) and Latessa Johnson from SMU (23.73). The other runners who made it to the final are Courtney Warner (East Carolina, 23.88), Chelsea Francis (USF, 23.91), Chelsea Francis (SMU, 23.56), SheKara Martin (UCF, 23.92) and Tiona Lattimore (Cincinnati, 23.94).
On the men’s side, Houston had five runners qualify for the finals as Eli Hall finished in first with a meet record time of 20.40 and Jacarias Martin took second in 20.80. Mario Burke (20.83), Cameron Burrell (20.93) and John Lewis III (21.23) round out the Cougar contingent in the finals. Davon DeMoss of Memphis (20.85), Hakeem Horton from East Carolina (21.08) and UConn’s Trenten Beram (21.14) are the remaining qualifiers.
Tulane’s Jessica Duckett was the top qualifier in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 59.09. Birexus Hawkins from Houston (59.59) and Ebony Crear from UCF (1:00.01) were the other automatic qualifiers after winning their respective heats. The other five runners qualifying on time are East Carolina’s Naomi Whitaker (1:00.02) and Alyssa Sandy (1:01.55), UConn’s Tia Strackman (1:01.40), SMU’s India Simmons (1:01.58) and Cydney Fogle from Tulsa (1:01.72).
Amere Lattin from Houston had the top mark in the men’s 400m hurdles at 50.81, the best mark in the conference this season. Jason Kimmet from Memphis was the other automatic qualifier at 52.54. They will be joined in the final by UConn’s Stephon Henry (51.82), Cincinnati’s Jaashir Morris (52.88), East Carolina’s D’Ante Yarborough (53.24) and Rodney Johnson (53.59), Houston’s Raymund Clarke (53.17) and Memphis’s Michael Carey (53.37).
The women’s 800m saw four UConn Huskies qualify for the finals led by Susan Aneno with a time of 2:08.91. She will be joined by teammates Alexis Panisse (2:09.67), Katie Foley (2:11.28) and Sydnee Over (2:10.99). Reigning champion Rosie Chamberlain from UCF finished with the second best time (2:08.99) and Temple’s Millie Howard (2:09.58), SMU’s Holly Archer (2:09.80), and UCF’s Chrystal Tejeda (2:11.56) round out the final field.
Four freshmen qualified for the men’s 800m led by UConn’s Christopher Heydrick who ran a 1:52.04. USF’s Yohance Haynes (1:52.18) and Derwin Moultrie (1:52.28) as well as Cincinnati’s Michael Vitucci (1:52.04) are the other three freshmen. Stefano Migliorati from East Carolina (1:52.19), Namman Norment from Memphis (1:52.23) and Tulsa’s Grey Howard (1:52.11) and Robert Tully (1:52.21) will also be in the final.
Women’s Team Rankings - Thru Two Events
1) UCF 19
2) UConn 14
3) Houston 11
4) Cincinnati 10
5) SMU 7
6) Tulane 5
7) East Carolina 4
7) Memphis 4
9) USF 2
9) Tulsa 2
Men’s Team Rankings - Thru Two Events
1) Tulsa 26
2) East Carolina 21
3) UConn 13
4) Houston 6
5) USF 5
6) Cincinnati 4
7) Memphis 2