Day 2 Results |
Highlights |
Champ Central | Photos
CINCINNATI, OHIO – Seven American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships records were set on Day 2 of the 2018 meet at Cincinnati’s Gettler Stadium, as ECU and Wichita State lead the way through 13 completed events.
ECU claimed first place in both the women’s hammer and discus throws and has had six podium appearances on the way to totaling 45 points. The Wichita State men lead with 46 points after finishing top three in both the decathlon and long jump. The Shocker men posted scoring marks in four completed events. The Houston men’s and women’s teams combined to break four conference meet records.
Memphis swept the men’s discus throw, taking the first, second and third-place spots to earn 24 points. All-America thrower Luke Vaughn regained the discus title after winning it in 2015, with his first throw of 57.76 meters (189-06). Teammate Rafael Vallery placed second with his distance of 54.79 meters (188-06), while Adam Neelly clinched the third-place spot with his final toss of the day that traveled 52.91 meters (173-07). ECU also got a boost, placing Neil Blanken in the fifth-place spot and Ryan Davis in seventh place. Houston’s Zachery Oliva also registered points for the Cougars, finishing in sixth place.
The men’s long jump field was a competitive one, featuring three former conference champions. On his final jump of the day, Houston’s Jared Kerr, who won the triple jump last year, broke the conference’s meet and facility record with his distance of 8.14 meters. His mark is the furthest jump recorded at Gettler Stadium and ranks No. 3 in the nation. Kerr is the third-straight Cougar to take home the long jump title. Wichita State’s Jared Belardo, who won the conference’s indoor long jump in February, bettered the original meet mark with his jump of 7.83 meters and clinched second place with his final jump of 7.85 meters. Last year’s long jump champion, Trumaine Jefferson of Houston, placed third with his top jump of 7.79 meters. Besides Hakeem Hunter of ECU who placed sixth with 7.41 meters, Houston and Wichita State took the remaining scoring spots. Rayvon Allen and Hunter Veith placed fourth and fifth, respectively for the Shockers, while the Cougars’ Antwan Dickerson and Nathaniel Mechler claimed seventh and eighth place, respectively.
The women’s long jump conference meet record was also set by a Cougar on the women’s side with last year’s runner-up Samiyah Samuels capturing the first-place spot in this year’s championship. Samuels, who entered the field atop the league’s performance, bettered the meet record by 0.01 meters with her distance of 6.33 meters on her final leap. Three teammates joined her in scoring in the field. ECU’s Mackenzie Whitaker earned eight points for the Pirates with her distance of 6.07 meters. The conference’s indoor triple jump champion, Cincinnati’s Irati Mitxelena, jumped 5.88 meters to finish in third place.
The men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase featured two former conference champions in Tulsa’s Benjamin Preisner (2016) and Tulane’s Emmanuel Rotich (2017); however, it was Houston’s Brian Barraza who took this year’s title with a record-setting time of 8:48.47, which bested the former top mark set by Louisville’s Edwin Kibichiy in 2014. His time is good for ranking in the nation’s top 15. Rotich ran a close race, running under the former record time at 8:49.01. Memphis’ Julien Sanchez-Pinto took third place with another sub-9-minute mark at 8:56.37. Preisner placed fourth at 9:02.13, followed by teammate Austin Del Rosso in fifth place at 9:12.13.
Cincinnati senior Alex Bloom repeated in the decathlon, taking home his second-straight title. After setting meet records in the decathlon’s high jump and long jump on Friday, he finished top-five in the pole vault and discus throw and collected 7,318 points to clinch the title. Just 46 points behind him in second place was Wichita State’s Ben Johnson with 7,272 points. Freshman teammate Jake Horsch won the final two decathlon events—the 1,500-meter run (4:22.49) and the javelin throw (51.50 meters)—to finish third. Two other Shockers joined them in the top eight. UConn’s Caleb Kasupski broke the meet record in the decathlon’s discus throw at 46.43 meters to finish fourth with 6,893 points.
Kendra Henry posted two solid performances in Saturday’s final heptathlon events to move into first place and capture the event title with her personal record of 5,018 points. The freshman won the heptathlon javelin throw with her toss of 46.81 meters (153-07). She then improved from fourth place to the top spot after running 2:26.83 to place second in the 800-meter run. UCF’s Natosha Jordan broke another American Athletic Conference championship meet record with her event-winning distance of 5.78 meters in the long jump. She finished second in the heptathlon with 4,980 points. USF’s Kaitlyn Kirby entered the day leading the heptathlon field but took back-to-back sixth-place finishes to end the day with 4,953 points—good for third place. Cincinnati’s Angelica Lightfoot placed fourth in front of last year’s champion and teammate Naomi Urbano. Tulane’s Pauline Helm won the 800-meter run at 2:25.43 to move into sixth place, while Houston’s Cassie Leal and Cincinnati’s Katie Straus took seventh and eighth place, respectively.
After taking 11th place in last year’s meet, ECU’s Galissia Cause catapulted to the top with her toss of 52.20 meters (171-03) to take gold in the women’s discus toss. UConn’s Divine Oladipo, who entered the meet with the top mark on the conference’s performance list, finished second for a second-consecutive year. Three Tigers finished in the top eight with freshman Samantha Lenton leading the pack in third place with her distance of 51.26 meters. Teammate Mona Jaidi finished fourth place with her best toss of the day reaching 51.06 meters.
This year’s frontrunner for the women’s pole vault title captured the crown, as Cincinnati’s Brooke Catherine cleared a conference season-best height of 4.21 meters (13-09.75). Catherine is the first Bearcat to take home the pole vault title. Tulane’s Rebekah Markel cleared the next best mark to place second at 4.11 meters (13-05.75). Two other Bearcats finished in the top eight with Rachel Coghill finishing fifth (3.81 meters) and Allie Plybon tying for seventh with Tulane’s Kristina Leggas (3.66 meters). ECU’s Sommer Knight cleared 3.81 meters on her first try to clinch the sole third-place spot. USF’s Nicole Carroll and UConn’s Laurel Bailey also successfully leaped the bar at 3.81 meters.
Tulsa’s Ashley Barnes used a powerful kick in the final stretch of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase to bolt ahead of ECU’s Grace Sullivan to capture The Golden Hurricane’s first conference steeplechase win at 10:27.10. Prior to this year’s meet, Houston and SMU were the only two teams to win the women’s 3,000m steeplechase. Sullivan became the sixth Pirate to head to the podium with her time of 10:28.53. Tulane’s Mckenzie Melius broke her school’s record after clocking a time of 10:33.15. UConn freshman Mia Nahom, who paced the Huskies to the 2017 cross country title, earned five points for her side in fourth place at 10:33.60. Temple earned two of the final four scoring spots.
Houston’s Amere Lattin will be looking for his third-straight 110-meter hurdles title after running the fastest prelim time of 13.79 seconds. He will be joined by three Bearcats and two Shockers, as well as Memphis’ Aaron Persinger, ECU’s D’Ante Yarborough and teammate Nathaniel Mechler in Sunday’s final race.
Tulane’s Jessica Duckett will also be looking to repeat on Sunday after breaking the conference’s meet record in the 100-meter hurdles with her time of 13.14 seconds in the prelims. She has now run the fastest hurdles times in both the league’s outdoor events. Houston freshman Naomi Taylor, who placed second in the conference’s 60-meter indoor race in February, ran 13.49 for the second-best 100m hurdles time in the prelim round. Sunday’s final race will feature the Green Wave’s Brandi Hughes and Kyah Loyd in addition to three Pirates and UConn’s Ashley Wiggins.
The American’s Indoor Championship mile winner, Zack Penrod of Wichita State, ran the fastest prelim 1,500-meter time at 3:56.02. Teammate Stan Swarlo ran 3:56.11 to join him in the finals on Sunday. Matthew Viveiros of Memphis, who finished 10th in last year’s meet, ran the second-fastest 1,500m time at 3:58.11. Teammate Brock Ballard ran the sixth-fastest time at 3:58.64. UConn’s Michael O’Donnell, who holds the conference’s No. 1 regular season 1,500m mark took the eighth-place spot, as fellow Husky Peter Garmon will head to Sunday’s final too.
Memphis’ Martina Rodriguez-Sala clocked 4:33.84 to run the conference’s top women’s 1,500m prelim time at this year’s meet. The conference’s most recent Female Track Athlete of the Week, Cincinnati’s Alexis Anton, bolted ahead of the pack and won her heat at 4:35.32. UConn’s Nahom ran 4:34.74 to qualify for Sunday’s final too. Cincinnati, UConn and Temple will each be represented by three runners in the final.
Houston’s All-America sprinter Kahmari Montgomery, who won The American’s indoor 400-meter race, ran the best prelim time in his notorious event in 46.45 seconds. Four Memphis sprinters completed the full lap around the track in a top-eight time to join him in Sunday’s finals. The race will also feature defending 400-meter dash champion, Raymond Kibet of Tulane, UConn’s Trenton Benton and Tulsa’s Antaun Andrews.
A new women’s 400-meter dash champion will be crowned on Sunday, as three Bearcats will be featured in the finals race. Haisha Bisiolu of Cincinnati clocked 54.21 seconds for the top prelim time, while Tulane’s Maya Harewood ran just behind her at 54.42 seconds. Tulsa’s Aaliyah Birmingham won her heat to punch a ticket to the finals at 54.81 seconds.
The stadium and conference’s meet record fell in the women’s 100-meter dash prelims, as Brianne Bethel of Houston ran the fastest Gettler Stadium and American Outdoor Championship mark in 11.31 seconds. The SMU sprinting duo of Latessa Johnson, who won the 200-meter finals last year, and defending 100-meter champion Chelsea Francis each won their respective heats. Francis was the conference’s record holder to enter this year’s championship. Bethel was the 100-meter dash runner-up in last year’s championship. Two teammates will join her in this year’s finals.
Houston’s Elijah Hall, a two-time American Athletic Conference Most Outstanding Track Performer and defending 100-meter dash champion, made his 2018 debut in the 100m prelims, running the fastest time for a Gettler Stadium record of 10.23 seconds. Teammates Cameron Burrell and Mario Burke each won their respective heats too. Two other Houston athletes qualified for Sunday’s final race that will feature five total Cougars. Joining them will be Memphis’ Davon DeMoss, USF’s Curtis Thomas and ECU’s Anthony Simpson.
The final day of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT with the men’s javelin throw and will be streamed on the
American Digital Network.
Women’s Team Rankings
1) ECU 45
2) UConn 34
3) Cincinnati 32.50
4) Houston 30
5) Tulane 26.50
6) Memphis 26
7) Wichita State 20
8) USF 15
9) SMU 14
Tulsa 14
11) UCF 11
12) Temple 5
Men’s Team Rankings
1) Wichita State 46
2) Memphis 33
3) Houston 32
4) UConn 31
Cincinnati 31
6) Tulsa 30
7) ECU 17
8) Tulane 8
9) USF 6