Championship Central | Results | Highlights
WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State women won three events and sent five athletes to the podium on Saturday to move into first place with 66 points through the second day of the 2019 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, Kansas. Cincinnati, which won the women’s outdoor title in 2016 and 2017, will enter the final day in second place with 47 points, while Memphis picked up 11 points on the day to remain in the top three with a score of 45.
The Shockers earned 24 points after sweeping the podium in the women’s heptathlon with Kendra Henry successfully defending her title. Wichita State took the first-place spots in the heptathlon long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter run on Saturday. Starting the day in fourth place, Henry shot atop the field after winning the javelin throw (48.55 meters) a day after placing third in the javelin open to clinch her second-straight heptathlon title with 5,249 points. Henry also won the shot put on Friday and finished third in the 800-meter run to conclude the day to improve her points total by 231 from her first-place finish a year ago.
Wichita State’s Claudia Rojo earned the runner-up spot with 5,219 points after posting a trio of first-place heptathlon finishes, including a top time of 2:19.96 in the 800m to close the event. Rojo also finished first in the 100-meter hurdles (14.27 seconds) and long jump (5.61 meters). She was second in the javelin throw with her top distance of 35.13 meters. Teammate Sydney Wilson led the heptathlon for the majority of the competition up until the final two events but still clinched the final podium spot with 5,106 points. She won the heptathlon high jump (1.71 meters) and 200-meter dash (25.61 seconds) on the opening day of the title meet.
Wichita State carried the momentum into the shot put as Kelsey Slawson won her first American title with her toss of 15.66 meters (51-04.50) on her third attempt. Slawson finished third in the shot put at The American’s 2019 Indoor Championships and improved from a sixth-place finish at the conference’s outdoor championships in 2018. Slawson has combined nine collegiate shot put titles in the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2019.
Cincinnati senior Annette Echikunwoke earned her second trip to the podium after taking home silver with her shot put distance of 15.50 meters. Echikunwoke was this year’s hammer throw champion and won the outdoor shot put title in 2017. After finishing 16th a year ago, Houston’s Priscilla Adejokun made a massive jump with a lifetime-best throw of 15.49 meters. Cincinnati boasted three in the top eight with Malin Smith placing fifth and Leah Heckaman finishing seventh.
After running the 1,500-meter earlier in the day, Wichita State’s Rebekah Topham returned to the track and turned in one of the top performances of the meet, using a powerful kick on the final stretch for a stadium and American meet-record time of 10:14.19 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Topham smashed the former conference record set in 2014 by SMU’s Tova Magnusson and continued her stunning track season after winning the mile, 3,000-meter run and distance medley relay at the conference’s indoor meet.
ECU’s Grace Sullivan earned her second-straight runner-up finish in the steeplechase with her time of 10:21.32, while Tulsa freshman Katharina Pesendorfer finished third place with a PR of 10:22.27. Teammate Alyssa Bolliger also clocked a personal record with her time of 10:25.84 for fourth place.
Tulane’s Rebekah Markel won the pole vault after clearing 4.18 meters, and then went on to break the Cessna Stadium record with her clearance of 4.31 meters on her second attempt. Markel posted her sixth win of the season, as she stands tied for 15th nationally with her career-best outdoor clearance. She also improved from a second-place finish a year ago. The Green Wave scored 18 points in the event with freshman Nastja Modic clearing 4.01 meters for third place and classmate Alex Potts clearing 3.81 meters on her first attempt for seventh place. Senior Sadie Brass cleared 4.01 meters on her first attempt to take home a second-place finish for the Bearcats.
Tulsa’s Carsyn Spurgeon became the first Golden Hurricane athlete to win the long jump after clearing 6.30 meters (20' 8") on her second attempt. Spurgeon entered the meet with a conference-best leap of 6.43 meters. Memphis freshman Tanalaya Gordon earned her first podium finish with a PR second-place jump of 6.28 meters. UConn’s Taylor Woods reached 6.13 meters on her first attempt and placed third. Two-time outdoor long jump champion, Samiyah Samuels of Houston, finished fourth, while ECU’s Mackenzie Whitaker placed fifth.
Three ECU hurdlers will be featured in Sunday’s 100-meter hurdles finals with Alyssa Sandy, Brooke Stith and Naomi Whitaker punching tickets. Houston’s Naomi Taylor, who finished second place at The American’s outdoor meet in 2018, ran the fastest 100m hurdles prelim time (13.47 seconds).
Temple shined in the 1,500-meter prelims with Millie Howard and Helene Holm Gottlieb pacing the field. Houston and Tulsa also qualified a pair of athletes for Sunday’s final race. Howard was the 2018 runner-up in this event. This year’s American indoor 400-meter dash winner, Kat Surin of UConn, ran the fastest prelim time of 53.13 seconds to win her heat. The 400m final race will feature five freshmen, representing five different schools.
In the 100-meter dash, Cincinnati freshman Caisja Chandler ran the fastest time of 11.48 seconds for a PR and school record. UCF made its presence felt in this event with Shian Hyde, Ciara Holback and Shaniya Williams each running qualifying times. Chelsea Francis of SMU, who earned trips to the podium at the conference meet in 2017 and 2018, will run in the finals race after clocking the third-fastest trials time.
The 2019 American Outdoor Track and Field Championships will conclude Sunday. For more information, visit
http://TheAmerican.org/OTF.
Women’s Teams Scores
1) Wichita State - 66
2) Cincinnati - 47
3) Memphis - 45
4) Tulsa - 35
5) Tulane - 22
6) ECU - 19
6) UConn - 19
8) Houston - 16
9) USF - 15
10) SMU - 14
11) UCF - 12
12) Temple - 2
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