BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The 2017 Indoor Track and Field Championships started with a bang as ten meet records fell on the first day of competition. Through the first day, Cincinnati leads the women’s competition and Tulsa is ahead in the men’s.
The first medal of the championships was won by Cincinnati’s Adrian Valles in the men’s pole vault. Valles won his third consecutive indoor pole vault championship with a meet record clearance of 5.60m, the third highest mark in the NCAA this season. UConn’s Craig Hunter (5.12m) and USF’s David Bell (4.97m) finished second and third respectively.
In the women’s pole vault, Tulane’s Alyssa Applebee won gold with a clearance of 4.17m. Applebee cleared on her first three attempts but could not clear a meet record attempt of 4.27m. Applebee’s teammate Mary Carson Pitts finished in second clearing 4.07m on her first attempt and Memphis’s Jada Parker took home bronze with a clearance of 4.07m in two attempts.
Sophomore Naomi Urbano took home gold for Cincinnati in the women’s pentathlon with 3,710 points. Urbano won the shot put event (11.28m) and the 800m (2:24.84) and finished second in the high jump (1.66m). Crystal Jones from Temple finished in second with 3,528 points and Aminah Ghaffar from East Carolina finished in third with 3,488 points.
The men’s Heptathlon finished four of the seven events and Cincinnati’s Alex Bloom leads with 3,328 points. Bloom (7.06) was one of three athletes to break the meet record in the Heptathlon 60-meter dash along with Houston’s Nathaniel Mechler (7.08) and USF’s Raekwon Scott (7.01). The meet record in the high jump was also broken by Scott (2.04m) and Bloom (2.19m). Memphis’s Lennard Biere broke the shot put meet record with a throw of 15.97m.
The men’s weight throw belonged to Aleks Rapp, a freshman from Tulsa. Rapp was the top thrower in The American this season and took home the championship with a meet record 20.02m. Two East Carolina Pirates took home second and third as sophomore Ryan Davis also broke the meet record throwing a 19.91m throw and senior Adam Manns reaching 19.76m.
Not to be outdone, Cincinnati’s Annette Echikunwoke broke a meet and Crossplex record in the women’s weight throw, winning her second-straight gold with an NCAA-leading throw of 22.69m. UCF’s Chelsea Gobourne (20.21m) and Houston’s Taylor Scaife (20.04m) took the silver and bronze.
In the women’s long jump, Houston junior Tonyecia Burks took home gold with a leap of 5.89m. Behind Burks was East Carolina’s Olivia Wakler (5.71m) and Houston’s Phedenia George-Moseby (5.61m).
Houston swept the men’s long jump with sophomore Trumaine Jefferson taking home gold with a jump of 7.66m. Jared Kerr (7.64m) and Antwan Dickerson (7.40m) took home silver and bronze for the Cougars.
On the track UCF’s Anne-Marie Blaney won her third-straight 5,000-meter title with a time of 16:07.85, breaking her own meet record by almost 24 seconds. SMU freshman Hannah Miller also came in under the meet record time with a mark of 16:16.84.
The men’s 5,000-meter run was dominated by the Tulsa Golden Hurricane who took home the top four spots in the event and all under the previous meet record. Sophomore Benjamin Preisner took home gold (14:30.85) as Adam Roderique (14:30.91), Austin Del Rosso (14.30.99) and Isaac Dobos (14.31.00) rounded out the top-four.
Two teams broke the women’s distance medley relay meet record with UConn winning back-to-back titles in a time of 11:32.66. SMU also broke the previous meet record with a time of 11:35.56.
In the final track event of the night, the meet record for the men’s distance medley relay was broke by three teams with Tulsa taking home gold for the third-straight year, in a time of 9:52.01. Houston (9:52.98) and UConn (9:53.81) took home the silver and bronze.
After six events Cincinnati leads the women with 48 points followed by UCF (33) and UConn (27) to round out the top three. Houston (26), Tulane (23), SMU (21), East Carolina (15), Memphis (12), Temple (11), USF (10) and Tulsa (8) round out the team scores.
On the men’s side Tulsa leads after day one of the with 50 points while Houston is in second with 37 and UConn is in third with 32.5. The remaining four teams are USF (25.5) East Carolina (20), Cincinnati (15) and Memphis (13).
The 2017 Indoor Track and Field Championships conclude Saturday (Feb. 25) starting at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT, at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala. The entirety of Day Two will be streamed live on the American Digital Network and any information can be found the Championship Central page at theamerican.org/ITF.
WOMEN’S TEAMS SCORES
Cincinnati - 48
UCF - 33
UConn - 27
Houston - 26
Tulane - 23
SMU - 21
East Carolina - 15
Memphis - 12
Temple -11
USF - 10
Tulsa - 8
MEN’S TEAMS SCORES
Tulsa - 50
Houston - 37
UConn - 32.5
USF - 25.5
East Carolina - 20
Cincinnati - 15
Memphis - 13
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 SCHEDULE
HEPTATHLON
9:00 a.m. 60m Hurdles
10:45 a.m. (est.) Pole Vault
3:05 p.m. (est.) 1000m Run
FIELD EVENT
9:45 a.m. High Jump – W Trials & FINAL
9:45 a.m. High Jump – M Trials & FINAL
10:00 a.m. Shot Put – M Trials & FINAL
12:30 p.m. Triple Jump – W (pit A) Trials & FINAL
12:30 p.m. Triple Jump – M (pit B) Trials & FINAL
12:30 p.m. Shot Put – W Trials & FINAL
TRACK EVENT – ALL FINALS
11:15 a.m. Mile Run – W
11:25 a.m. Mile Run – M
11:35 a.m. 400m Dash – W (2-section final)
11:45 p.m. 400m Dash – M (2-section final)
Track Adjustment Break
12:10 p.m. 60m Hurdles – W
12:20 p.m. 60m Hurdles – M
12:30 p.m. 60m Dash – W
12:40 p.m. 60m Dash – M
Track Adjustment Break
1:00 p.m. 800m Run – W
1:10 p.m. 800m Run – M
1:20 p.m. 200m Dash – W (2-section final)
1:30 p.m. 200m Dash – M (2-section final)
1:40 p.m. 3,000m Run Unseeded – W
1:55 p.m. 3,000m Run Unseeded – M
2:10 p.m. 3,000m Run Seeded – W
2:25 p.m. 3,000m Run Seeded – M
2:40 p.m. 4x400m Relay – W
2:50 p.m. 4x400m Relay – M
3:15 p.m. AWARDS CEREMONY