American Athletic Conference Performances List
NCAA Division I Performances List
Indoor Track & Field Championship Central

Preparations are underway for the first American Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships this coming weekend at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory in New York, N.Y. Eight men’s teams coupled with 10 women’s teams will make the trek to New York, with events beginning Friday, Feb. 28 at 8:30 a.m. and concluding the afternoon of Saturday, March 1. For the first time, the event will also be available for streaming live on The American Digital Network (www.TheAmerican.org/DN).
 
Men’s Outlook
 
Two 2013 conference team champions will look to duplicate last year’s success as members of The American. UConn, the defending Big East champions, and Houston, the defending Conference USA victors, combine for 10 of the conference’s best individual performances this season, along with three currently in qualification for the NCAA Championship (UConn’s Alvaro Chavez, Houston’s Cameron Burrell and Leshon Collins). The Cougar men are the only conference program to receive a national ranking from the USTFCCCA this season, holding down the No. 24 spot for the week of Jan. 28 and No. 23 for Feb. 4. While never ranked, the Husky men nevertheless took first every scored meet they competed in this season.
 
Louisville is a force to be reckoned with as well, looking to bounce up after a fifth place finish at the Big East title meet last year. The Cardinals have seen most of their scoring come in the field events, as Brad Vivace and Sam Bombaugh currently sit atop the conference leaderboard in the shot put and weight throw, respectively. Ben Williams tops the charts in the triple jump, and Guillaume Victorin has been a steady presence in the long jump all season.
 
Cincinnati, USF and Memphis are all dark horse candidates to make a run at the podium, with several athletes consistently making appearances near the top of the performance lists. Josh Dangel of Cincinnati enters the Championship as the favorite in the pole vault after several meet wins this season. The same can be said for Memphis’ Darius Lynwood in his strongest event, the high jump. USF has several runners who could sneak toward the top, particularly in the sprints, along with Shane Lewis in the long jump.
 
Key Events
 
60-meter dash – Two Houston runners, Cameron Burrell and Leshon Collins have shared the best time in The American this season. Burrell’s time of 6.57 and Collins’ 6.60 both registered internationally, and both are amongst the top ten in Division I. The two will also battle for the title in the 200-meter dash.
 
Pole Vault – Josh Dangel from Cincinnati and Pauls Pujats of Memphis have traded off the top mark all season. Currently, Dangel betters Pujats by two inches (17”-6.5” to 17’-4.5”), but the two will look to clinch crucial points for their teams.
 
Long Jump – Rutgers’ Corey Crawford made a name for himself on Feb. 8, winning the event at the Armory Collegiate Invitational with a leap of 26’-1.75”. Prior to Crawford’s internationally recognized jump, however, Louisville’s Guillaume Victorin had been the league’s top performer. He currently sits behind Crawford with his best at 25’-5.25”.
 
Relays – While always thrilling, the 4x400-meter relay and the Distance Medley Relay look to be anyone’s call at the Championship. Rutgers, UConn and Houston have all traded top marks in the 4x400, with the same three teams looking to do a similar battle in the DMR.
 
Women’s Outlook
 
If the bests lists are any indication, the women’s competition looks to be a race between the two Texas teams. While SMU placed fifth in Conference USA last year and Houston seventh, both programs have seen resurgences in their opening season in The American. SMU owns the top marks in all three distance events, both throwing events, and the 60-meter dash. The fastest Mustang, Stephanie Kalu, also ranks nationally with her 7.29 60-meter dash time. Houston also owns six of the best performances, including middle distance, hurdles and two field events.
 
Memphis and UConn are no underdogs, either. Both took second in their respective conferences last year, and sport some impressive marks so far this winter. Memphis’ Maya Williamson has been the conference’s strongest performer in the 800-meter run, and picked up Track Athlete of the Week honors on Jan. 21. UConn’s Natasha McLaren tops the conference in the high jump, and teammate Celina Emerson looks to be a strong contender in both the 400-meter and 200-meter dashes after earning a Track Athlete of the Week honor of her own on Feb. 11.
 
The field events will see competitors from Cincinnati and Louisville in consistent medal contention, with the Cardinals’ Brittany Owens holding the best long jump mark and teammate Patrice Gates looking to continue her solid season in throwing events. The Bearcats’ Kaitlyn Good has been the strongest pentathlon competitor throughout the season, and pole vaulter Alyssa McBride could make a play for the event title.
 
UCF is known for its strong core of sprinters, with Knights owning the top three 60-meter dash times behind SMU’s Kalu. For Rutgers, two-time Track Athlete of the Week Asha Ruth will look to solidify herself as one of the conference’s top all-around athletes as she owns top-ten performances in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, along with her fourth-place mark in the long jump.
 
Key Events
 
60-meter dash – UCF will look for a podium sweep, as Briana Vaughn and Christal Peterson own the second and third-best marks in The American. Teammate J’Nea Bellamy is tied with five other runners for the fourth-best time (7.53). All will be looking, however, to seize the tough task of unseating conference leader Stephanie Kalu of SMU with her 7.29 mark.
 
3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs – Freshman Agnes Sjostrom of SMU and sophomore Emily Durgin of UConn are one-two in both the 3,000 and 5,000, as Sjostrom posted two big performances at Feb. 14’s Iowa State Classic to upend Durgin from the top of both events. The two are familiar foes as Durgin placed third and Sjostrom fourth at October’s American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.
 
Pole Vault – Houston’s Karley King has topped the conference all season after posting a personal best vault of 13’-7.25” back on Dec. 7 at Texas A&M’s Reveille Invitational. Alyssa McBride of Cincinnati will look to pull an upset to top the podium, as she sits right behind King with 13’-3.5”.
 
4x400-meter relay – A mere two seconds separates the top four times in The American in the 4x400-meter relay this season. Houston holds a narrow best with a time of 3:38.42, just ahead of UCF at 3:39.50. Rutgers and UConn take third and fourth, with respective marks of 3:40.21 and 3:40.44.
 
The top two men’s and women’s team finishers at the Championship will receive awards, along with the top six finishers in each individual event. The top three individuals in every event will also make up the All-Conference team.
 
Tickets for the event are $15 per day for adults and $10 per day for non-competing students with appropriate identification. All seats are general admission, and tickets can be purchased at the Armory ticket both for both days upon arrival. There is no pre-sale for tickets for this event.
 
Top Conference Marks (Courtesy of Direct Athletics)
 

EVENT	MEN	WOMEN
60m	Cameron Burrell, HOU (6.57)*	Stephanie Kalu, SMU (7.29)*
60h	Isaac Williams, HOU (7.85)	Sade-Mariah Greenidge, HOU (8.39)
200m	Leshon Collins, HOU (21.42)	Ngozi Onwumere, HOU (23.77)
400m	Kyle Twombly, UCONN (47.78)	Brittany Wallace, HOU (53.25)
800m	Alvaro Chavez, UCONN (1:47.96)	Maya Williamson, MEM (2:07.45)
Mile	Yonas Tesfai, HOU (4:08.72)	Tova Magnusson, SMU (4:51.96)
3,000m	Brian Barraza, HOU (8:16.84)	Agnes Sjostrom, SMU (9:33.86)
5,000m	Brian Barraza, HOU (14:23.29)	Agnes Sjostrom, SMU (16:31.05)
4x400m relay	UConn (3:10.52)	Houston (3:38.42)
DMR	Houston (9:44.97)	Louisville (11:47.61)
High Jump	Darius Lynwood, MEM (2.08m)	Natasha McLaren, UCONN (1.80m)
Pole Vault	Josh Dangel, CIN (5.35m)	Karley King, HOU (4.15m)
Long Jump	Corey Crawford, RU (7.97m)	Brittany Owens, LOU (6.11m)
Triple Jump	Ben Williams, LOU (16.00m)	Dominique Brisco, HOU (12.73m)
Shot Put	Brad Vivace, LOU (18.18m)	Helena Perez, SMU (15.85m)
Weight Throw	Sam Bombaugh, LOU (19.07m)	Rayann Chin, SMU (20.82m)
Pentathlon		Kaitlyn Good, CIN (3,799 pts)
Heptathlon	Kyle Kubera, CIN (4,868 pts)

 
NCAA Top 16 Performances (Courtesy of Direct Athletics)

EVENT	MEN	WOMEN
60m	Cameron Burrell, HOU – 3rd (6.57)* Leshon Collins, HOU – 6th (6.60)	Stephanie Kalu, SMU – 8th (7.29)*
800m	Alvaro Chavez, UCONN – 7th (1:47.96)
Long Jump	Corey Crawford, RU – 2nd (7.97m) Guillaume Victorin, LOU – 7th (7.75m)
Triple Jump	Ben Williams, LOU – 9th (16.00m) Shane Lewis, USF – 11th (15.95m)

 
*converted for track size, distance or altitude