Championship Central | Results | Highlights
WICHITA, Kan. – Starting off the final day in first place, the Wichita State women held onto their lead and captured their first American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship title with 126 points at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, Kansas, on Sunday, May 12. The Shockers improved from a ninth-place team finish in 2018, scoring 60 points on the final day to secure the victory. In total, the Shockers claimed four individual titles and posted 11 All-Conference performances.
Cincinnati ended the meet in second place with 107 points, earning its fifth-straight top-three finish, which included eight All-Conference performances. SMU scored 80 points on Sunday and moved into third place with 94 points for its best finish at the outdoor meet since winning back-to-back titles in 2015. Memphis won three field events and finished in fourth place with 90 points. UConn earned its sixth-straight top-five finish with 64 points after clinching a trio of victories on the track.
Wichita State’s Rebekah Topham won her second-straight major award in earning The American’s Women’s Most Valuable Outdoor Performance after scoring 22 points for the Shockers. Topham won the 3,000-meter steeplechase Saturday and finished second in the 1,500-meter run Sunday. She also ran the fifth-fastest 5,000-meter. Topham earned the same award at the conference’s 2019 indoor meet. Wichita State also took home the conference’s Staff of the Year honor for winning the meet.
Cincinnati freshman Caisja Chandler also picked up a second-straight major award, collecting her second Freshman of the Year nod after winning the honor at the conference’s indoor meet. Chandler was a podium finisher in the 100m (third) and 200m (second) and helped the Bearcats to a pair of second-place finishes in both relays.
Cincinnati started the day winning its second event of the meet with Irati Mitxelena placing first in the triple jump. She cleared 13.22 meters (43' 4½") on her final attempt to shoot atop the standings and take the lead for good. Making the outdoor podium for the past three years, Mitxelena finished second in 2017 and third in 2018. She won the conference’s indoor triple jump title in both 2018 and 2019. Memphis senior Saida Burns-Moore also saved her best jump for last but came up short with a personal-best distance of 13.11 meters (43' 0¼") for second place. Burns-Moore placed third in this event in the indoor season and improved from an 11
th-place finish in the outdoor triple jump in 2018. On her sixth jump, SMU’s Nicole Iloanya reached 12.96 meters (42' 6¼") for third place.
Burns-Moore was back in action in the high jump, winning gold for her second trip to the podium of the day. She improved from a fourth-place finish last year, clearing 1.80 meters (5' 10¾") on her second attempt for first place. Temple’s Aisha Brown also cleared 1.80 meters and placed second. Sidney Sapp of Wichita State finished third with her top height of 1.77 meters. Rosie Cicmanec collected four more points for the Tigers with her fifth-place finish.
SMU’s Chelsea Francis swept the 100 and 200-meter dashes. She tied the conference’s meet record with her time of 11.20 seconds in the 100-meter and won the 200-meter with her time of 23.06 seconds. Francis finished third in both these races a year ago and reclaimed the 100m title after winning in 2017. Caisja Chandler finished second in the 200m, while UCF’s Ciara Holback took the final podium spot. The Knights earned 15 points in the 100m with Hyde placing second, Holback finishing fourth and Williams finishing seventh.
Another stunning performance from a Mustang came in the 5,000-meter run. SMU’s Hannah Miller avenged a second-place finish from last season, running in front of Wichita State’s defending 5K champion, Winny Koskei, to capture gold in 16:30.38, clocking 1:13.57 on the final 400m split. Miller has finished in the top three in the 5K for the past three years and won the 3,000m and 5,000m at the 2018 conference indoor championships. After winning her second-straight 10,000-meter title Friday, Koskei placed second in the 5K. SMU’s Svenja Ojstersek clocked 16:42.91 and placed third—her second top-five finish of the weekend.
Memphis continued to shine in the throwing events, as Mona Jaidi and Samantha Lenton placed first and second, respectively. Jaidi recorded a throw of 51.61 meters and improved from a fourth-place finish a year ago, earning her second trip to the podium after placing second in the javelin throw on Friday. Lenton earned her first top-three finish of the meet, finishing second place (50.19 meters). ECU senior Kourtney Edwards-Campbell (50.02 meter) took third place, jumping up eight spots from her 11th-place finish in 2018. Cincinnati posted three scoring spots in the discus.
After winning the first three American outdoor 4x100-meter relay titles (2014, 2015 and 2016), UCF reclaimed the title for the first time in three years. The squad of Shaniya Williams, Hyde, Beyonce Defreitas and Holback finished first with a Cessna Stadium record of 44.17 seconds. Cincinnati placed second in 44.27 seconds (also a Cessna Stadium record), while Wichita State picked up six points in third place (45.25 seconds).
UCF garnered its second victory of the day with freshman Devin D'Oliveira winning the 400-meter hurdles in personal-best time of 58.80 seconds. SMU senior Madison Pyle ran 59.73 seconds for second place. UConn’s Kristina Cherrington scored in this event for a second-straight year, this time earning a trip to the podium with a third-place finish.
Winning the conference’s 400-meter indoor dash in February, UConn’s Kat Surin carried her success onto the outdoor track, clocking 52.56 seconds for her second American first-place finish. Surin was last year’s fifth-place finisher. In her American outdoor 400m debut, SMU’s Chika Iwuamadi clocked 52.70 for second place. For a second-straight day, Tulane’s Maya Harewood posted a PR with her time of 53.67 seconds and finished third, earning her second podium finish in this event in as many years.
For a third-straight year, UConn senior Susan Aneno won the 800-meter run, clocking 2:08.58. Aneno is also a two-time conference 800m indoor champion. Finishing fourth place last year, Temple’s Helene Holm Gottlieb took home the silver medal this year with her time of 2:10.06. Two other Owls were featured in the top eight. Freshman Charlotte Crook of UCF finished third with her time of 2:10.82.
Naomi Taylor, the conference’s defending 60-meter hurdles indoor champion, won the 100-meter hurdles with her time of 13.17 seconds. Taylor was last year’s runner-up in this event. ECU’s Alyssa Sandy posted another top-three finish for the Pirates, finishing second (13.70 seconds), while Kyah Loyd of Tulane took third place for a second-straight year with her time of 13.76 seconds.
In an event that Temple hasn’t won since 2016 when Blanca Fernandez collected back-to-back titles, Millie Howard ran for first place in the 1,500-meter run, taking the title in American record fashion. Howard clocked 4:21.80, over seven-seconds faster than second place Rebekah Topham of Wichita State (4:28.82). Houston senior Britani Gonzales earned the final podium spot with her time of 4:30.46.
UConn ended the meet with a first-place finish in the 4x400-meter dash taking the title back to Storrs, Conn., for the first time since 2015. The Huskies’ team of Cherrington, Aneno, Dejanee Parms and Surin clocked 3:35.06 to end the meet on a high note. Cincinnati placed second (3:38.86), while SMU finished third (3:39.99) to close the sixth conference meet.
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.
Women’s Teams Scores
1) Wichita State - 126
2) Cincinnati - 107
3) SMU - 94
4) Memphis - 90
5) UConn - 64
5) UCF 64
7) Tulsa - 53
8) ECU - 52
9) Tulane - 50
10) Houston - 47
11) Temple - 40
12) USF - 32
WOMEN’S MOST VALUABLE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE
Rebekah Topham, R-Jr., Wichita State
WOMEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Caisja Chandler, Cincinnati
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR STAFF OF THE YEAR
Wichita State
All-Conference performers are top-three finishers in each event.