April 24-27 Results:
Men’s Results
| Cincinnati |
Penn Relays/ Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood |
RECAP |
| UConn |
Penn Relays |
RECAP |
| Houston |
Penn Relays/Drake Relays/Alumni Muster |
RECAP |
| Memphis |
Memphis Invite |
RECAP |
| USF |
Tom Jones Memorial |
RECAP |
| Tulane |
Penn Relays/ Desert Heat Classic |
RECAP |
| Tulsa |
Southern Miss Open |
RECAP |
| Wichita State |
Drake Relays/ Red Raider Shoot |
RECAP |
Women’s Results
| UCF |
Tom Jones Memorial |
RECAP |
| Cincinnati |
Penn Relays/ Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood |
RECAP |
| UConn |
Penn Relays |
RECAP |
| Houston |
Penn Relays/Drake Relays/Alumni Muster |
RECAP |
| Memphis |
Memphis Invite |
RECAP |
| USF |
Tom Jones Memorial |
RECAP |
| SMU |
Bobcat Classic |
RECAP |
| Temple |
Penn Relays |
RECAP |
| Tulane |
Southern Miss Open |
RECAP |
| Tulsa |
Drake Relays |
RECAP |
| Wichita State |
Drake Relays/ Red Raider Shoot |
RECAP |
Highlights
American Athletic Conference outdoor track and field programs concluded their April slates, as Houston shined with its men’s squad sweeping the America sprint relays at the historic 125th Penn Relays over the weekend. Five conference programs made the trek to Franklin Field for the Penn Relays, while three teams competed at the 110th Drake Relays. Five teams finished their 2019 regular-season outdoor campaigns.
Houston concluded its triple-meet action at the Penn Relays, Drake Relays, and Texas A&M Alumni Muster, as the men’s squad swept the sprint relay events at Franklin Field.
The Houston men's 4x100-meter relay squad set things off early for the Cougars with a first-place finish in the Championship Invitational. Nicholas Alexander, Mario Burke, Brandon Taylor, and Travis Collins combined for a time of 39.23 in the event. The Cougars have now won the event for three-consecutive years at the Penn Relays. The men's 4x200-meter relay team led the field and took top honors in the Championship of America Invitational with a time of 1:22.04. The Cougars’ success at Franklin Field did not stop there as the men's 4x400-meter relay squad once again locked up the top spot with a NCAA-leading time of 3:02.61. Amere Lattin, Jermaine Holt, Mario Burke, and Obi Igbokwe took home the third Championship Invitational relay victory of the meet for Houston and in doing so made Houston the sixth program in Penn Relays history to sweep the sprint relays and the first since 2006.
In addition to winning the Penn Relays, the men's 4x400-meter relay squad could not be stopped at the Blue Oval. Frederick Lewis, Tyrell Valentine, Quivell Jordan and Trumaine Jefferson combined for a first-place finish in the event with a time of 3:09.66. With the victory the Cougars clinched titles at both the Penn Relays and Drake Relays in the event.
On the women’s side, Houston’s Samiyah Samuels got things going for the Cougars in the field events, notching a first-place finish in the long jump Championship with a mark of 20-1.5 (6.13 meters) Thursday at the Penn Relays. Naomi Taylor took home top honors in the 100-meter hurdles, leading the field with a time of 13.26 seconds. The Houston women's 4x100-meter relay team made up of Essance Sample, Whitney Ochiam, Ashley Seymour and Cecilia Tamayo-Garza claimed Houston's first Penn Relays women's Championship of America title by clocking a time of 44.11 seconds.
With its squad split at two meets, Cincinnati took home 11 victories over the weekend. On Thursday at the Penn Relays, throwers Annette Echikunwoke and Malin Smith both collected top-three finishes. Aaron Bienenfeld and Andrew Schille swept the top-two men's spots in the 10,000-meter run with Bienenfeld placing first in 29:34.37, breaking the program’s record. On Friday at the Lyles/Wood Invitational, four Bearcats captured titles. Irati Mitxelena won the open long jump and Jane Sensibaugh took the title in the open shot put for the women, while Aaron Deaton won the open shot put and Chris Province took the open hammer throw for the men. Six more Bearcats were crowned champions on Saturday. Cincinnati won one sprint, one mid-distance race and added four more titles in the field, including a sweep of the triple jump competitions, with both the men and women winning three events.
UCF and USF stayed in-state and competed at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Fla., to close their regular seasons. The Knights collected several top-10 finishes, while USF was highlighted by a pair of second-place finishes in field events. Brittany Krug finished second in the javelin throw and Mitchell Mueller placed second in the pole vault for the Bulls.
The UConn women’s team was spread out at three meets with Huskies competing at the Penn Relays, Tom Jones Memorial, and the Brown Springtime Invitational. UConn won 10 events and clinched 32 top-five finishes and posted 40-top-10 marks throughout the weekend. The majority of the team competed at the Penn Relays and then moved on to the Brown Springtime Invitational. At the Penn Relays, UConn garnered three top-5 and four top-10 finishes. The Huskies saw success at the Brown Springtime Invitational, where they posted 29 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes. Taylor Woods (long jump) and Kelly Ward (heptathlon) shined at the Penn Relays, as each placed third in their respective event. Susan Aneno won the 800-meter run at the Tom Jones Memorial in 2:03.41.
The UConn men were led by senior Michael McGonnigle who ran for eighth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and posted a new personal-best time of 8:59.12.
Memphis hosted the 2019 Memphis Invitational over the weekend. Freshman Tanalya Gordon tied the school record in the women's long jump to highlight first-day action. Gordon jumped 20-3 (6.17 meters). The Tigers won four titles and had 11 top-three performances Friday. Senior Saida Burns-Moore reset her school record in the women's high jump with a mark of 5-11.25 (1.81 meters) the following day. Memphis recorded six more titles and 16 top-three performances Saturday.
Chelsea Francis highlighted SMU over the weekend with two conference-leading times as the Mustang contingent competed at the Bobcat Classic. Francis started off the day with an 11.23-second 100-meter time, only .01 off her career best. The junior then set a personal record in the 200 meter with a time of 22.99 seconds.
Competing in the Penn Relays, Temple’s quartet of Helene Gottlieb (1200m, 3:28.19), Mallorie Smith (400m, 54.79), McKenzie Gelvin (800m, 2:14.98) and Millie Howard (1600m, 4:52.76) shattered the DMR program record by four seconds, resetting it to 11:30.70. Candus Burks placed fourth in the triple jump on the second day of completion with her top leap of 11.77 meters. With her final high jump clearance, Aisha Brown soared over the bar at 1.74m, good for a fourth-place finish on the day.
Tulane won four events and posted 15 top-five finishes over the weekend at the Southern Miss Open. Six student-athletes also set new personal bests during the meet. Tulane ran its fastest 4x100 relay of the season on the women's side, racing to a victory in a time of 46.06 seconds. Later in the afternoon, the 4x400 relay team got another victory, sweeping the relays on the day. Rebekah Markel added another victory to her pole vault resume, picking up her third-consecutive win in the event and fifth total in six competitions this outdoor season. The senior cleared 4.20 meters (13-9.25) for the fourth time this year. Emmanuel Rotich had the team's second win of the day, taking the 1,500-meter title with a time of 3:51.31, just two seconds off his best-ever time.
Tulsa set five program top-10 all-time marks at the Drake Relays, competing in Iowa from Thursday-Saturday. Carsyn Spurgeon won the long jump with a career-long distance of 6.43 meters (21-1.25)—good for ranking 11th nationally. The Golden Hurricane made a strong presence in the premier relay events, earning five top-five finishes and multiple school all-time marks.
Wichita State sent athletes to compete at the Drake Relays and Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout over the weekend. Rebekah Topham and Zack Penrod combined to sweep the Drake Relays seeded 1,500-meter races. Topham came out on top in front of her home crowd, winning the women's race with a season-best time of 4:24.76. Her time ranks No. 3 in The American. Penrod followed suite, winning the men's seeded race with a personal-best and third-fastest time in Shocker history of 3:42.96.