Championship Central | Results | Highlights
WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men won two more field titles and scored 55 points on Saturday to maintain their lead through the second day of The American’s 2019 Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, Kansas. The Shockers posted eight top-five finishes on the day to boost their lead to 87 points. Cincinnati registered a pair of podium finishes and tallied 51 points through two days for second place, while UConn had a trio of top-three performances on Saturday to enter the final day of competition in third place with 42 points.
The decathlon picked up where it left off with UConn’s Jordan Torney and Wichita State’s Ben Johnson placing first and second, respectively, in the 110-meter hurdles to start the day. However, it was Johnson who finished with 7,413 to capture first place in the event. Johnson’s total is the second-most recorded at The American Outdoor Championships and ranks 17th nationally. He finished top three in all but one event in the decathlon, winning the shot put (14.15 meters) and pole vault (4.55 meters). Johnson also won the conference’s indoor heptathlon in February.
Wichita State had five athletes score in the decathlon with Chandler Stewert finishing fourth with 6,829 points. UConn saw two athletes finish in the top five with Torney placing second with 7,231 points—improving from a sixth-place finish a year ago. Torney placed first in half of the events, winning the decathlon 100m, long jump, 400m, 110m hurdles and pole vault. Teammate Benjamin Grosse rounded out the top five with 6,756 points. Finishing third place was Cincinnati’s Damien Berthenet with 7,084 points. He shined in the throws, winning the discus (38.52 meters) and the javelin (57.59 meters).
The Shockers continued to perform well in Saturday’s field events, placing three in the top five of the long jump. Rayvon Allen saved his best jump for last, tying his PR in with a leap of 7.75 meters (25' 5¼") to win his first American title and earn his third-career trip to the podium. He improved from a fourth-place finish in 2018. ECU took the second-place spot with Hakeem Horton clearing 7.48 meters on his final attempt. The last time Malik Snead of UConn competed in The American’s outdoor long jump was in 2017 when he finished eighth. The junior improved to a third-place finish with a distance of 7.34 meters. Last year’s runner-up, Jared Belardo of Wichita State, placed fourth, while teammate Kaden Griffin placed fifth.
Two-time American outdoor shot put runner-up, Felipe Valencia of Houston, captured his first gold medal in the conference’s outdoor event with two tosses over 18 meters. The senior led the field with his opening throw of 18.03 meters, and then gave himself some leverage with a distance of 18.24 meters (59' 10¼") on his final attempt. Valencia is a two-time American indoor shot put champion. Two Cougars reached the podium, as freshman Triston Gibbons tied his career best with a toss of 17.70 meters to place second. Cincinnati senior Marcus Abraham finished third with a distance of 17.48 meters. Two Bearcats joined him in the top eight with Sam Meece finishing sixth and Aaron Deaton placing eighth.
Two-time American Cross Country individual champion Emmanuel Rotich of Tulane repeated in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with the third-fastest time recorded in American meet history (8:56.39). Rotich won the steeplechase in 2017, as he shaved nearly 25 seconds off his time from that championship perforamnce. Memphis senior Julien Sanchez-Pinto earned his second-straight trip to the podium, placing second with a time of 8:59.23. UConn senior Michael McGonnigle followed in third place with his time of 9:04.54. Wichita State picked up key points in the steeplechase with three Shockers finishing in the top eight. Ethan Kossover and Cory Landon finished fourth and fifth, respectively, as senior Nathan Wickoren claimed the eighth-place spot.
Three-time American 110-meter hurdles champion, Amere Lattin of Houston, led a trio of Cougars with the top 110-meter hurdles times. Lattin, who holds the conference’s meet record in this event, clocked 13.71 seconds in the first heat. Devion Wilson and Quivell Jordan followed with the next-best times in the second heat. Sunday’s finals will feature two Bearcats and a pair of Huskies as well.
Houston continued to flex its muscles on the track with four sprinters racing for the top prelim times in the 400-meter dash. Last year’s outdoor 400m champion and two-time indoor champion Kahmari Montgomery clocked 45.98 seconds to win the second heat for the fastest 400m of the day. Winning the third heat was teammate Jermaine Holt, while fellow Cougars Tyrell Valentine and Frederick Lewis also posted top-eight marks. Winning the first 400m heat was Cincinnati freshman Chris Borzor who clocked the third-fastest 400m prelim time.
In the 100-meter dash, seven of the top-10 prelim times belonged to the Cougars. All-America senior Mario Burke won the first heat with his time of 10.29 seconds to lead the way. Fellow All-American, Davon DeMoss of Memphis, ran the next-fastest time. Houston’s Travis Collins and Brandon Taylor, along with Maurice Nock of USF rounded out the top five performances in 100m trials.
Zack Penrod and Jed Helker of Wichita State led the way in the 1,500-meter prelim run, but five Tulsa mid-distance runners will be featured in the finals, as senior Mark Middleton led the pack of Golden Hurricane athletes with the third-fastest time. Penrod was last year’s runner-up, while last year’s champion, Matthew Viveiros of Memphis punched his ticket to Sunday’s final with the eight-best trials time.
The 2019 American Outdoor Track and Field Championships will conclude Sunday. For more information, visit
http://TheAmerican.org/OTF.
Men’s Teams Scores
1) Wichita State - 87
2) Cincinnati - 51
3) Connecticut - 42
4) Tulsa - 21
4) Memphis - 21
6) Houston - 18
7) ECU - 16
8) Tulane - 15
9) USF - 0
Championships Schedule:
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