Championship Central | Results | Highlights
WICHITA, Kan. – Starting the day in sixth place with 18 points, the Houston men won seven track events and posted 14 top-three finishes on Sunday to capture their fourth-consecutive American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship with 178.75 points at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, Kansas. Houston has won all but one American Outdoor Championship with five overall titles.
Wichita State, which led through the first two days, finished second place with 166.75, ending the title meet with five first-place finishes and 12 All-Conference performances. Cincinnati totaled nine top-three finishes and took third place with 111 points. UConn, which has finished in the top five in every American Outdoor Championship took fourth place with 10 podium finishes (107 points), while Tulsa posted its third-straight fifth-place finish with 79 points and seven top-three performances.
Amere Lattin (110m hurdles and 400m hurdles) and Kahmari Montgomery (200m and 400m) both won two events and earned The American’s Men’s Co-Most Valuable Outdoor Performance award, along with Tulane’s Emmanuel Rotich who won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run. Memphis’ Adar Sheere was named The American’s Freshman of the Year for the outdoor season after winning the discus with a top-20 NCAA toss. Houston was awarded the Staff of the Year honor for taking home the title.
The Cougars kicked off the track events winning their sixth-consecutive 4x100-meter relay title to stay undefeated in The American’s outdoor meet in this event. The quartet of Nicholas Alexander, Mario Burke, Brandon Taylor and John Collins clocked 39.09 seconds for a Cessna Stadium record. Memphis placed second (39.47 seconds), while UConn took third (40.62 seconds).
For a fourth-straight year, Houston completed a sweep of the relays, winning the 4x400-meter title in the final event of the day. The team of Lattin, Jordan Booker, Tyrell Valentine and Trumaine Jefferson placed fourth in exciting fashion with a time of 3:08.58. Lattin got the Cougars off to a fast start before Holt sealed the win with a powerful kick on the final stretch. The Cougars have taken the 4x400m title in all but one year. UConn posted a second-place finish (3:10.58), while Tulsa placed third (3:10.87).
One of the most impressive performances of the meet came in the 100-meter dash, when Houston’s Burke set The American’s meet and Cessna Stadium record, running a sub-10 100-meter dash with a time of 9.95 seconds (wind-aided). Houston has won the 100m for the past four years, as Burke became the fourth Cougar to take home gold. It marked his third top-three finish in this event at the conference’s outdoor meet, as his time is good for ranking second nationally. The top eight in the race featured six Houston sprinters, as the Cougars took home 29 points in the event. Memphis’ Davon DeMoss clocked 10.05 seconds to place second, while Houston’s Taylor earned his second trip to the podium of the day in third place.
Lattin became the conference’s only athlete to win an outdoor event four times at the title meet, successfully defending his 110-meter hurdles title after bettering his conference record with his time of 13.56 seconds. His mark is good for ranking fifth nationally. The Cougars posted 24 points, sweeping the top-three spots with freshman Devion Wilson finishing second (13.96 seconds) and Quivell Jordan placing third (14.12 seconds). Cincinnati and UConn also had a pair of hurdlers score points in the final.
Lattin returned to the track later in the day and reclaimed the 400-meter hurdles title, tying his meet record set in Friday’s prelims with his time of 49.79 seconds, good for fifth in the nation. Winning his third 400mH hurdles title at the conference’s outdoor meet, Lattin avenged a second-place finish from a year ago when Austin Corley of Wichita State took the title. Corley settled for the runner-up spot this year (50.93 seconds), as Henry Visser of Tulsa moved three spots up from last year, taking third place with his time of 52.20 seconds.
The Cougars earned 22 more points in the 400-meter dash. Reclaiming his 400-meter title was Montgomery, who ran the full lap around the track in 46.10 seconds. Montgomery also won The American’s indoor 400m in 2018 and 2019. Houston’s Holt followed in second place (47.12 seconds), while Cincinnati freshman Chris Borzor finished third (47.37 seconds). Valentine and Frederick Lewis added two more top eight times for the Cougars.
Montgomery collected his second gold medal of the evening in the 200-meter dash, bettering his second place finish from 2018. Montgomery clocked a Cessna Stadium record of 20.32 seconds and became the fifth Cougar to win the event, as Houston has won the 200m in all but one American Outdoor Championship. Burke, last year’s 200m champion, placed second, while three other Cougars were in the top eight to combine for 27 points. Cincinnati’s Borzor collected his second third-place finish.
Wichita State continued to show its strength in the field events with Mason Buckmaster clearing 2.15 meters (7' 0½") in the high jump to become the first Shocker to take home the conference’s outdoor HJ title. It came down to Buckmaster and Houston’s Brendon Rivera, as the Shocker junior cleared the winning height on his final attempt to take home gold. Buckmaster entered the meet ranked second in The American. Rivera settled for second place at 2.12 meters (6' 11½"). UConn’s Safir Scott, last year’s runner up, cleared 2.09 meters on his first attempt and took home bronze for the Huskies. Collin George of Houston posted a top-five finish to give the Cougars 12 points in the event.
For a second-straight year, a Husky senior took home the men’s pole vault title, as Ian Bergere cleared a personal-record 5.11 meters (16' 9¼") for first place, improving from a fifth-place finish a year ago. Bergere entered the meet ranked sixth in The American. USF and Wichita State had two in the top eight. Freshman Stone Baker of USF cleared 5.11 meters on his second attempt for the runner-up spot, while Wichita State senior Hayden Bugner earned his second-straight top-three outdoor American finish after finishing second at last year’s meet with his clearance of 5.06 meters (16' 7¼").
Wichita State saw more success in the 1,500-meter run, as the conference’s two-time indoor mile winner Zach Penrod won his third American title with a meet-record time of 3:49.07. UConn’s Eric Van Der Els also ran under the meet record, clocking 3:49.52 for second place. Andrew Schille gave Cincinnati six more points with his third-place finish (3:50.19). Tulsa’s Mark Middleton and Cameron Field rounded out the top five, as the Golden Hurricane had three athletes score in the 1,500m.
Errol Ennis was the sole winner for USF, repeating in the triple jump with his distance of 16.02 meters (52' 6¾"). Ennis is the second Bull to win this event at The American’s outdoor meet with USF’s Matthew O’Neal winning in 2014 and 2016. For the second time in as many years, UConn’s Malik Snead was the runner up (15.89 meters), while Wichita State had three jumpers finish in the top eight. Jared Belardo claimed his second top-five finish of the meet for the Shockers, with an All-Conference jump of 15.81 meters for third place.
In the discus, Sheere entered the championship as the frontrunner and ended the day in first place with his best toss coming on his second attempt with a career-long heave of 57.48 meters (188-07). He posted three throws over 53 meters on the way to clinching his first-career American title. With Mona Jaidi’s (women’s winner) and Sheere’s gold medals in the discus, it marked the first time in American Athletic Conference history that a school swept the titles at the outdoor meet. Wichita State claimed the next two podium spots with Isaiah Evans (52.45 meters) and Corey Martens (52.03 meters) finishing second and third, respectively.
In the second-to-last event of the day, Rotich picked up his second gold of the meet, winning the 5,000m title in 14:08.87 after powering through the final lap. The senior Green Wave distance runner capped his career on a high note, ending Tulsa’s four-year reign in this event. Rotich is the two-time reigning American Cross Country individual champion and won his second 3,000-meter steeplechase title on Saturday. The last time he competed in The American’s 5K race was in 2016 when he placed seventh. Last year’s champion, Benjamin Preisner of Tulsa, took second place with his time of 14:11.55. The senior also ends a decorated career on the track, combining for five conference event titles at the indoor and outdoor championships. Cincinnati’s Aaron Bienenfeld, who repeated in the 10K run with a conference-record time on Friday, placed third (14:17.82). It marked his second 5K podium finish in as many years after placing second last season.
Tulsa senior Grey Howard became the first Golden Hurricane runner to win The American’s outdoor 800-meter since Simon Greiner captured the title in 2015. Howard was last year’s runner-up, and entered the meet with the top 800m time in the conference. Houston freshman Christian Gilmore ran a PR in the 800m (1:50.93) to place second. Another Golden Hurricane runner joined him on the podium, as Robert Tully placed third with his time of 1:51.13.
Next up, American Athletic Conference athletes will compete in the NCAA regionals. Qualified athletes for the regional meet will be announced by the NCAA on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.
Men’s Teams Scores
1) Houston - 178.75
2) Wichita State - 166.75
3) Cincinnati - 111
4) UConn - 107
5) Tulsa - 79
6) Memphis - 74
7) USF - 43.75
8) Tulane - 33
9) ECU - 23.75
MEN’S Co-MOST VALUABLE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE
Kahmari Montgomery, Sr., Houston
MEN’S Co-MOST VALUABLE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE
Amere Lattin, Sr., Houston
MEN’S Co-MOST VALUABLE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE
Emmanuel Rotich, Sr., Tulane
MEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Adar Sheere, Memphis
MEN’S OUTDOOR STAFF OF THE YEAR
Houston
All-Conference performers are top-three finishers in each event.