Live Results | Participants (Men’s) | Participants (Women’s) | ESPN3 | Schedule
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Eighteen student-athletes from around the American Athletic Conference will return to the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama, from March 8-9 after punching tickets to compete in the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The top-16 athletes on the NCAA’s performance list and top-12 relay teams earned bids to compete in the national meet.
ESPN3 will stream the championships live starting at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday and at 5 p.m. ET Saturday. A re-air of the championship will take place starting at 10 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2 and again Monday starting at 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Houston led The American with 11 entries. In total, nine men and nine women will represent the conference at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The 18 athletes are the most to earn a bid in conference history.
The American has seen two athletes take home an individual national indoor title, including Houston’s Elijah Hall, who became the fourth sprinter in NCAA history to win both the 60-and 200-meter dash titles in the same NCAA meet in 2018. The conference has also had nine national runner-up performances during the past five years. Last season, Cincinnati’s Annette Echikunwoke (weight throw) and Loretta Blaut (high jump) each took home silver in their event, while Wichita State’s Hunter Veith was the national runner-up in the indoor heptathlon. Blaut, along with Houston sprinters Kahmari Montgomery, Amere Lattin and Mario Burke are the only athletes from The American to return to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
MEN’S PARTICIPANTS
The No. 6 Houston men boast seven entries in the national meet, including Montgomery (400m), Obi Igbokwe (200m and 400m), Burke (60m), Lattin (60mH), Trumaine Jefferson (long jump) and its 4x400m relay team. The Cougars have been a top-six team in the country all season and are coming off their fifth-straight American Indoor title. Houston’s 4x400m relay squad of Lattin, Igbokwe, Jermaine Holt and Montgomery ranks first in the nation with a time of 3:01.51 recorded at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational in February. Montgomery ran the fastest 400-meter dash in the nation at the conference’s indoor championships (45.04), setting The American’s and CrossPlex’s records for a second-straight year. In total, the Houston men account for six top-10 marks in the nation this year.
Memphis senior Davon DeMoss and junior Jordan Wesner both qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships. DeMoss makes his first NCAA appearance after clocking a school-record time of 6.61 seconds in the 60-meter dash at the Vanderbilt Invitational in January. His mark is tied for 12th in the nation. Wesner returns to the NCAA Championships after competing at the 2017 outdoor national meet. Wesner won his second American high jump title with his clearance of 2.22 meters this year. His top clearance of 2.25 meters (7’4.5”) was recorded at the Vanderbilt Indoor Open on December 1 and is tied for ninth nationally.
For the second time in as many years, Wichita State will send an athlete to compete in the indoor heptathlon. Ben Johnson’s score of 5,705 in the event set The American’s record and ranks No. 9 in the NCAA this season. At the conference’s indoor meet, Johnson won the heptathlon 60m hurdles, pole vault (4.70 meters) and shot put (14.35 meters). His time of 8.23 seconds in the 60m hurdles was also an American record.
Name | School | Event | National Ranking
Kahmari Montgomery | Houston | 400-meter dash | No. 1
A. Lattin, O. Igbokwe, J. Holt and K. Montgomery | Houston | 4x400m Relay | No. 1
Obi Igbokwe | Houston | 400-meter dash | No. 3
Mario Burke | Houston | 60-meter dash | No. 7
Obi Igbokwe | Houston | 200-meter dash | No. 7
Amere Lattin | Houston | 60-meter hurdles | No. 10
Trumaine Jefferson | Houston | long jump | No. 11
Davon DeMoss | Memphis | 60-meter dash | T-No. 12
Jordan Wesner | Memphis | high jump | T-No. 9
Ben Johnson | Wichita State | heptathlon | No. 9
WOMEN’S PARTICIPANTS
Cincinnati’s Blaut returns to the NCAA Championships after finishing as last year’s runner-up in the high jump. Blaut is coming off her third-straight American indoor high jump title after besting the field with her clearance of 1.82 meters. Blaut matched her indoor personal record with a clearance of 1.87 meters (6’1.5”) at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in February to tie for the nation’s lead. Blaut placed second with that same clearance at the national meet in 2018.
UConn will send two athletes to compete in the NCAA Championships with senior Susan Aneno ranked No. 7 in the 800-meter run and junior Divine Oladipo ranked No. 15 in the shot put. Both athletes earned their second American indoor titles in their respective events at the 2019 conference championships. Aneno’s top time in the 800m came at the Vanderbilt Invitational in January, as she clocked 2:03.94. Oladipo, last year’s Outdoor Northeast Region Field Athlete of the Year, registered a throw of 16.88 meters (55’5.5”) to win the Boston University Scarlet and White Invitational in February for her top toss of the season.
Four women from Houston qualified for the national championships. Taylor Scaife (weight throw), Naomi Taylor (60mH), Brianne Bethel (200m) and Samiyah Samuels (long jump) earned spots in the national field. Each Cougar won gold at The American’s championship meet in their respective event to help Houston win its first indoor conference title. Scaife and Taylor both own top-10 marks in the nation. Scaife has ranked top five in the weight throw all season with her best throw coming at the Houston Invitational in January. Her distance of 22.65 meters (74’3.75”) ranks fourth nationally. Taylor, The American’s Women’s Indoor Track Most Outstanding Performance recipient, clocked 8.08 seconds in the conference’s prelims of the 60-meter hurdles, which ranks 10th nationally.
SMU will send its first athlete since 2014 to the NCAA Indoor Championships as sprinter Chelsea Francis earned the 16th-place spot in the 60-meter dash field. Francis clocked 7.26 seconds to set The American’s meet record in the prelims of the 60m before winning the race the following day with her time of 7.27 seconds. Her top time this year is tied for 17th in the NCAA.
After setting The American’s record (4.23 meters) and winning the pole vault title, Tulane’s Rebekah Markel became the Green Wave’s first NCAA Indoor participant since 2016. Markel’s clearance of 4.33 meters (14’2.5”) set in New Mexico in February is tied for 14th in the nation. At the championships two weeks ago, she ran away with the pole vault gold as the only athlete to clear 4.09 meters.
Name | School | Event | National Ranking
Loretta Blaut | Cincinnati | high jump | T-No. 1
Susan Aneno | UConn | 800-meter run | No. 7
Divine Oladipo | UConn | Shot Put | No. 15
Taylor Scaife | Houston | weight throw | No. 4
Naomi Taylor | Houston | 60-meter hurdles | No. 10
Brianne Bethel | Houston | 200-meter dash | No. 16
Samiyah Samuels | Houston | long jump | No. 16
Chelsea Francis | SMU | 60-meter dash | T-No. 17
Rebekah Markel | Tulane | Pole Vault | T-No. 14