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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Fourteen American Athletic Conference indoor track and field athletes were in action at the opening day of the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, as Houston senior long jumper Trumaine Jefferson set a personal record twice on the way to finishing as the national runner-up in his event Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Jefferson entered the meet ranked 11th in the nation before jumping into the second place.
The action continues Saturday afternoon with ESPN3 streaming the championships live starting at 5 p.m. ET. A re-air of the championship will take place starting at 10 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2 and again Monday starting at 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Jefferson became the 10th athlete in conference history to notch an indoor national runner-up performance. He got off to a great start as he eclipsed his PR by two inches on his first attempt with a mark of 25-10.75 (7.89 meters). The PR would only last four more attempts as Jefferson extended it to 26-1.50 (7.96 meters) and jumped from fourth to second place with a final leap remaining. Jefferson's mark would hold to give the Killeen, Texas, native a spot on the podium and tying his head coach, Leroy Burrell, for the second-best NCAA indoor finish in program history.
In addition to Jefferson's silver medal, the Houston men sent all five of the program's qualifying entries on to Saturday finals as Amere Lattin (60-meter hurdles), Kahmari Montgomery (400-meter dash), Obi Igbokwe (200- & 400-meter dash) and Mario Burke (60-meter dash) all advanced from Friday’s competition.
Jefferson's eight points and the five qualifying spots in the sprints, in addition to Houston's No. 1 ranked 4x400-meter relay, place the Houston men squarely in the team race. Houston and Florida tied for the night's best qualifying result, with five runners each advancing to Saturday finals.
Houston was the only program to qualify multiple athletes for the final of the men's 400-meter dash as Montgomery, the nation's No. 1 athlete in the event entering the meet, continued his reign with the fastest qualifying time at 45.32 seconds. Igbokwe will join Montgomery in the eight-man final after claiming the last qualifying spot with a time of 46.91 seconds.
Memphis’ Davon DeMoss competed in the 60m dash, finishing 13th in the prelims with his time of 6.66 seconds. Teammate Jordan Wesner will compete in the high jump Saturday, entering the field tied for ninth in the nation.
Wichita State’s Ben Johnson set multiple personal bests to finish the first day of the NCAA’s heptathlon events with 3,180 points. Johnson currently sits in 10th place 243 points behind leader Gabe Moore of Arkansas. Day 2 continues with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000m run.
On the women's side, Houston’s Naomi Taylor advanced in the 60-meter hurdles while Samiyah Samuels earned first-team All-America honors by finishing eighth in the long jump (6.26 meters). Brianne Bethel earned second-team All-America honors with a 10th-place finish in the 200-meter dash (23.30 seconds). The Cougars will also look for Taylor Scaife, ranked No. 4 in the nation in the weight throw, to potentially pick up points on Saturday.
SMU’s Chelsea Francis earned second-team All-America status after competing in the 60-meter dash, finishing 16th place with her time of 7.37 seconds in the prelims. The junior ran the fastest 60m in conference history at The American’s Championships (7.26 seconds).
Susan Aneno (800m) and Divine Oladipo (shot put) represented UConn at the national meet. Aneno clocked 2:05.55 for the fastest seed time in the 800-meter run to advance to Saturday’s final. Oladipo wrapped up her season with an 11th-place finish in the shot put with her top throw of 16.29 meters (53-5.5).
Cincinnati and Tulane each have one women athlete qualifier for a field event occurring Saturday. High jumper Loretta Blaut, the Bearcats’ two-time national runner-up, is tied for No. 1 in the nation. Tulane’s Rebekah Markel, The American’s record-holder in the pole vault, enters the national meet tied for 14th in the country.
