Championship Central | Results | Highlights
WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men sent three athletes to the podium on Friday, May 10 to lead the way with 32 points through three scored events on the opening day of the 2019 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Cincinnati won two individual titles to start the meet on a high note in second place, only a point behind the Shockers (31). Tulsa had a pair of top-three finishes and will enter Saturday’s action in third place with 21 points. The American saw two meet records fall for the men on Friday.
One of the top performances of the day came in the final event, as Cincinnati’s Aaron Bienenfeld set The American’s championship record with his second-straight first-place finish in the conference’s 10,000-meter run. The junior distance runner clocked 1:01.71 on his final lap to pace ahead of the pack with his first-place time of 30:21.63, shaving nearly half a minute off his mark a year ago.
UConn’s Kyle Brackman improved from his 10K seventh-place finish in 2018, jumping ahead six spots to claim this year’s runner-up medal with his time of 30:28.16. His time also bettered the previous conference mark set by Louisville’s Ernest Kibet in 2014. Two Tulsa runners followed, as the conference’s 2018 Cross Country Freshman of the Year Isaac Akers finished third and Peter Lynch took fourth place. Senior Pedro Montoya of Wichita State rounded out the top five, collecting four points for the Shockers.
Cincinnati’s Sam Meece won his second-career American gold medal with a massive personal-best 12-foot PR of 62.30 meters (204' 4") in the hammer throw on his second attempt. Meece also reached 62 meters on his third attempt. The sophomore was the league’s winner in the indoor weight throw in February. The Bearcats picked up 15 points in the event with Chris Province (sixth place) and Jacob Rieman (seventh place) taking top-eight spots. Tulsa’s Aleks Rapp moved into second place with his final throw traveling 61.24 meters (200' 11"). This year’s leader heading into The American Championships, Corey Martens of Wichita State, took the final podium spot with his fifth throw (60.25 meters).
Wichita State’s All-America javelin thrower Aaron True repeated in his event with three tosses over 70 meters. His best throw of the day came on his third attempt and traveled 72.93 meters (239' 3"). The senior broke The American’s record a year ago with his distance of 77.49 meters. The Shockers had three in the top five with Jeff Ast placing second (60.18 meters) and freshman Davis Dubbert finishing fifth (58.61 meters). Cincinnati’s Nicholas Lauria took third place (58.84 meters).
Two of the conference’s former 400-meter hurdles champions were in action in the prelims. In the opening heat, Houston’s two-time 400m hurdles champion Amere Lattin broke the conference’s record with his time of 49.79 seconds, becoming the first conference hurdler to run a sub-50-second time for the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA this season. Wichita State’s Austin Corley, who set the record at last year’s meet, finished with the third-best prelim time (51.82 seconds). Houston’s Quivell Jordan, however, won the heat against Corley for the second-best time on the day (50.63 meters).
This year’s indoor heptathlon winner, Ben Johnson of Wichita State, moved atop the decathlon standings with five top three opening-day finishes for 3,895 points. Johnson won the shot put with his distance of 14.15 meters and placed second in the 100-meter dash (10.89 seconds) and high jump (1.95 meters). He turned in third-place finishes in the long jump and 400-meter dash. Jordan Torney, this year’s frontrunner heading into the conference meet, led for most of the day, but is second in the field to enter tomorrow’s action. He won three decathlon events, including the 100m (10.82 seconds), long jump (7.16 meters) and 400m (49.18 seconds), ending the day with 3,874 points.
The 200-meter dash finals field will feature six Houston sprinters. Seniors Kahmari Montgomery, Mario Burke and Obi Igbokwe ran the top-three prelims times, as teammates Edward Sumler IV, Jordan Booker and Nicholas Alexander will join them in Sunday’s final race.
Houston, Tulsa and Wichita State each saw two mid-distance runners advance to Sunday’s 800-meter final. Leading the pack was Houston freshman Christian Gilmore (1:51.41) who entered the meet ranked sixth in the conference. Wichita State’s Zack Penrod who finished fourth in the 800m a year ago ran the second-fastest prelim time (1:51.71).
The 2019 American Outdoor Track and Field Championships continue Saturday. For more information, visit
http://TheAmerican.org/OTF.
Men’s Teams Scores
1) Wichita State - 32
2) Cincinnati - 31
3) Tulsa - 21
4) UConn - 16
5) Memphis - 7
6) Tulane - 5
7) ECU - 4
8) USF - 1
9) Houston - 0
Championships Schedule:
Saturday, May 11
Decathlon
10:30 a.m. 110m Hurdles
11:20 a.m. (est.) Discus Throw
12:30 p.m. (est.) Pole Vault
3:30 p.m. (est.) Javelin
5:00 p.m. (est.) 1500m Run
Saturday, May 11
Heptathlon
11:00 a.m. Long Jump
1:00 p.m. (est.) Javelin
2:30 p.m. (est.) 800m Run
Field Events
3:00 p.m. Long Jump – W Trials & FINAL
3:30 p.m. Shot Put – W Trials & FINAL
4:30 p.m. Pole Vault – W Trials & FINAL
5:00 p.m. Long Jump – M Trials & FINAL
5:30 p.m. Shot Put – M Trials & FINAL
Track Events
5:30 p.m. 100m Hurdles – W Trials
5:45 p.m. 110m Hurdles – M Trials
6:00 p.m. 1500m Run – W Trials
6:15 p.m. 1500m Run – M Trials
6:30 p.m. 400m Dash – W Trials
6:45 p.m. 400m Dash – M Trials
7:00 p.m. 100m Dash – W Trials
7:15 p.m. 100m Dash – M Trials
7:30 p.m. 3,000m Steeplechase – W FINAL
7:45 p.m. 3,000m Steeplechase – M FINAL
Sunday, May 12
Field Events
2:30 p.m. High Jump – M Trials & FINAL
2:30 p.m. Triple Jump – W Trials & FINAL
2:30 p.m. Discus – W Trials & FINAL
3:30 p.m. Pole Vault – M Trials & FINAL
4:30 p.m. High Jump – W Trials & FINAL
4:30 p.m. Triple Jump – M Trials & FINAL
4:30 p.m. Discus – M Trials & FINAL
Track Events
4:30 p.m. 400m Relay – W FINAL
4:40 p.m. 400m Relay – M FINAL
4:50 p.m. 1500m Run – W FINAL
5:00 p.m. 1500m Run – M FINAL
5:10 p.m. 100m Hurdles – W FINAL
5:20 p.m. 110m Hurdles – M FINAL
5:30 p.m. 400m Dash – W FINAL
5:35 p.m. 400m Dash – M FINAL
5:45 p.m. 100m Dash – W FINAL
5:50 p.m. 100m Dash – M FINAL
6:00 p.m. 800m Run – W FINAL
6:05 p.m. 800m Run – M FINAL
6:15 p.m. 400m Hurdles – W FINAL
6:20 p.m. 400m Hurdles – M FINAL
6:30 p.m. 200m Dash – W FINAL
6:35 p.m. 200m Dash – M FINAL
6:40 p.m. 5,000m Run – W (unseeded) FINAL
7:05 p.m. 5,000m Run – W (seeded) FINAL
7:25 p.m. 5,000m Run – M FINAL
7:45 p.m. 1600m Relay – W FINAL
7:55 p.m. 1600m Relay – M FINAL
8:10 p.m. AWARDS CEREMONY
All times central