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HOUSTON - Four members of the University of Cincinnati track and field program brought home titles on the second day of competition at the 2017 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships with two men and two women grabbing gold in their respective events to lead the charge in Houston Saturday. Annette Echikunwoke won her second title in as many days as she won the shot put with Macklin Tudor adding the men's title to sweep the event for the Bearcats while the duo of Alex Bloom (decathlon) and Naomi Urbano (heptathlon) swept the multi-events for their first career conference titles.
// TEAM STANDINGS
With two more individual titles added to the total, the UC women moved into first place in the team standings with 49 points while UConn trails closely behind with 44 points and East Carolina in third with 40 points. Host Houston is fourth with 37 points to have the Top 4 teams separated by just 12 points heading into the final day of competition Sunday. On the men's side, the Bearcats have tallied 35 points and sit fifth with UConn leading with 53 points. Houston (52), East Carolina (43) and Memphis (36) round out the Top 5.
// SWEEP: SHOT PUT
Echikunwoke and Tudor both brought home gold in the shot put as the duo posted big marks for their wins. First, Echikunwoke, the winner of the hammer throw competition one day prior, lead the event much of the day and, by the time she entered the ring for her final throw, already had been declared the champion. Despite that, she bettered her best of the day with a heave of 16.20m (53-01.75) on her final throw to lock up the gold and 10 team points. Later in the day, Tudor stepped into the circle and had several big tosses before finishing with another personal-best, this time ending the competition with a launch of 18.90m (62-00.25) to not only win, but he also broke several records, including his own school record, the conference record and the conference's meet record.
// SWEEP: MULTIS
The multi-events also were swept by the Bearcats as Urbano won the pentathlon with 5,004 points - the fifth-best score in program history - while Bloom scored 7,401 points for the second-best total in program history. Urbano's victory also gave her a sweep of the multi-events for the year as she was the indoor pentathlon champion earlier this season.
Urbano in the Heptathlon: Urbano's victory saw her become just the fifth woman in UC history to score over 5,000 points as she posted personal-bests in all three individual events on the day with each of her five scores tallied ranking in the program's all-time Top 10 as well. Along with the fifth-best overall score in UC history, she also tallied 2,134 points on the second day, which is the third-best in UC history. She opened with a leap of 5.54m (18-02.25) in the long jump to post the seventh-best heptathlon leap in program history. She then had a huge day in the javelin, winning the event with a best of 38.55m (126-06), which ranks as the third-best mark in UC's heptathlon history, is eighth in UC's all-time open javelin Top 10 and broke the stadium's heptathlon record. She closed out the day with a run of 2:22.99 in the 800m run, which stands as the sixth-best in UC heptathlon history.
Bloom in the Decathlon: Bloom's big season grew larger Saturday as he scored 7,401 points to move up to second all-time in program history and did so with the help of three event PRs. His second-day scoring total of 3,367 points now ranks as the fifth-best in program history and came with two Top 10 marks as well. He opened the day with a run of 15.13 in the 110m hurdles, the third-best in UC decathlon history before throwing a PR 37.03m (121-06) in the discus. He followed that up with a clearance of 4.60m (15-01.00) for a decathlon PR and the ninth-best toss in UC decathlon history. Following a heave of 47.12m (154-07) in the javelin, he fought off the elements to run 4:54.36 to grab his final 593 points of the day and his first conference title.
// LONG JUMP SUCCESS
The Bearcats also had a pair of all-conference finishes in the long jump as Kellsa Mbah took runner-up honors for the women and freshman Austin Edwards took third overall in the men's event. Mbah opened the day with a leap of 6.23m, just 1mm off her personal best before coming back the next round to post a huge leap of 6.32m (20-09.00) to break her own school record and grab eight points for the team. Edwards followed later in the day as he posted three PRs, including his final best of 7.59m (24-11.00), which ranks as the sixth-best in program history and grabbed six points for the team.
// MORE POINTS SCORED
Four more women and one man scored points for the team as well on Saturday as the finals of their events were held. On the women's side, Angelica Lightfoot scored four points as she finished fifth in the heptathlon as she scored a personal-best 4,499 points which ranks as the 10th-best in program history while Maggie Loeffler added two team points to the team till by scoring a personal-best 4,285 points to place seventh overall. In the field events, Ashley Williams added four team points by placing fifth in the shot put with a toss of 15.45m (50-08.25) while senior Nicole Breeden placed eighth in the javelin with a toss of 34.80m (114-02), scoring a point for the first time in the conference meet in her career while competing in event for just the third time in her career. On the men's side, Dan Huben placed fourth overall in the 3,000m steeplechase by running 9:29.14 to collect five points for the team
// MORE ADDED TO THE RECORD BOOK
Six other individuals posted marks in their events that moved them into the program's all-time Top 10, three of which came in the women's 400m dash. In that event, Bryana Robinson posted the best time of the day, running 53.15 to qualify for the final and move into #2 all-time in program history while Tiona Lattimore not only joined her in the final, but did so with a time of 54.08, which is the fifth-best time in program history and breaks the freshman record as well. Haisha Bisiolu, although her ninth-place finish didn't get her into the final, it did move her up to #6 on the all-time Top 10 chart. In the women's long jump, Irati Mitxelena jumped 5.85m (19-02.50) to move up to #9 all-time while Alexis Gray hit a toss of 13.95m (45-09.25) in the shot put to move up to #9 all-time. On the men's side, Joshua Holloman, in just his second race in two years, ran 10.57 to not only tie for the #10 mark in program history, but also punch his ticket to the final with the seventh-fastest time of the day in the 100m dash.
// MORE BESTS
Four other marks recorded went down as personal-best marks for the Bearcats. Deanna Gesicki ran 55.26 in the 400m dash while Edwards raced to a time of 10.65 in the 100m dash for the men. Halen Witcher ran 47.51 to not only post a PR, but also qualify to the final on Sunday while Ryan Greene ran 48.69 for his all-time best in the 400m dash.
// MOVING ON TO THE FINAL
Three others that raced on the day earned berths into the final of their events, including a pair of hurdle runners and one in the mid-distances. In the hurdles, Aliya Barnes ran a season-best time of 13.80 to post the third-best time on the day in the 100m hurdles to move on to the final while Kelvin Williams followed suit in the men's 110m hurdles with the sixth-fastest qualifying time of 14.72. In the women's 1,500m run, Meg Westerheide moved on to the final with a time of 4:34.81, the third-best of the day in the event.
// IN THE BLOCKS
The final day of competition is set for Sunday with the first events of the day - the women's high jump and the men's pole vault - getting underway at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET). The American Digital Network will again provide live coverage of the meet on their site.
2017 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships - Day 2 (5/13/17)
Women's Results
100m Hurdles - Prelims
3. Aliya Barnes - 13.80 (+2.5) - qualifies for final
14. Juliana Puopolo - 14.55 (+1.8)
400m Dash - Prelims
1. Bryana Robinson - 53.15 - PR & UC #2 - qualifies to final
7. Tiona Lattimore - 54.08 - PR, UC #5, UC Freshman Record - qualifies for final
9. Haisha Bisiolu - 54.57 - PR & UC #6
13. Deanna Gesicki - 55.26 - PR
18. Sylvana Ross - 56.98
1,500m Run - Prelims
3. Meg Westerheide - 4:34.81 - qualifies for final
17. Vanessa Robinson - 4:51.10
3,000m Steeplechase - FINAL
Marina Wrede - did not finish
Long Jump - FINAL
2. Kellsa Mbah - 6.32m (20-09.00)(+1.2) - PR & UC RECORD - 8 points
10. Irati Mitxelena - 5.85m (19-02.50)(+2.9) - PR & UC #9
Shot Put - FINAL
1. Annette Echikunwoke - 16.20m (53-01.75) - 10 points
5. Ashley Williams - 15.45m (50-08.25) - 4 points
9. Alexis Gray - 13.95m (45-09.25) - PR & UC #9
Javelin - FINAL
8. Nicole Breeden - 34.80m (114-02) - 1 point
Heptathlon - FINAL
1. Naomi Urbano - 5,003 points - PR & UC #5 - 10 points
5. Angelica Lightfoot - 4,499 points - PR & UC #10 - 4 points
7. Maggie Loeffler - 4,285 points - PR - 2 points
Hep #5 - Long Jump
3. Naomi Urbano - 5.54m (18-02.25) [712pts] - PR & UC Hep #7
5. Angelica Lightfoot - 5.39m (17-08.25) [668pts] - Hep PR
7. Maggie Loeffler - 5.07m (16-07.75) [578pts] - PR
Hep #6 - Javelin
1. Naomi Urbano - 38.55m (126-06) [639pts] - PR, UC Hep #3, UC #8 & Stadium Hep Record
4. Angelica Lightfoot - 28.69m (94-01) [452pts] - PR
7. Maggie Loeffler - 22.71m (74-06) [339pts]
Hep #7 - 800m Run
2. Naomi Urbano - 2:22.99 [783pts] - PR & UC Hep #6
6. Angelica Lightfoot - 2:38.41 [591pts] - PR
7. Maggie Loeffler - 3:54.41 [419pts]
Heptathlon Day Two Scoring
Naomi Urbano - 2,134 points - PR & UC #3
Angelica Lightfoot - 1,711 points - PR
Maggie Loeffler - 1,336 points
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES - thru Day Two
1. CINCINNATI - 49
2. UConn - 44
3. East Carolina - 40
4. Houston - 37
5. UCF - 27
6. SMU - 26
7. Tulane - 16
8. Memphis - 15
9. Tulsa - 12
10. South Florida - 6
Men's Results
100m Dash - Prelims
7. Joshuwa Holloman - 10.57 (+1.0) - PR & UC #10t - qualifies for final
11. Austin Edwards - 10.65 (+2.0) - PR
17. Mykel Chambers - 10.90 (+0.3)
18. Tevin Thompson - 10.93 (+0.3)
110m Hurdles - Prelims
6. Kelvin Williams - 14.72 (+2.2) - qualifies for final
400m Dash - Prelims
5. Halen Witcher - 47.51 - PR - qualifies to final
15. Ryan Greene - 48.69 - PR
18. Nathan Alexander - 49.02
1,500m Run - Prelims
16. Michael Vitucci - 4:09.49
3,000m Steeplechase - FINAL
4. Dan Huben - 9:27.14 - 5 points
Long Jump - FINAL
3. Austin Edwards - 7.59m (24-11.00)(+2.7) - PR & UC #6 - 6 points
10. Sergio Acera - 7.09m (23-03.25)(+3.0)
Shot Put - FINAL
1. Macklin Tudor - 18.90m (62-00.25) - CHAMPION - PR, UC RECORD, AAC Record, AAC Meet Record - 10 points
13. Aaron Deaton - 15.32m (50-03.25)
Javelin - FINAL
14. Chris Province - 44.15m (144-10) - PR
Decathlon - FINAL
1. Alex Bloom - 7,401 points - CHAMPION - PR & UC #2
Dec #6 - 110m Hurdles
3. Alex Bloom - 15.13 (+1.9) [834pts] - PR & UC Dec #3
Dec #7 - Discus
7. Alex Bloom - 37.03m (121-06) [604pts] - PR
Dec #8 - Pole Vault
t3. Alex Bloom - 4.60m (15-01.00) [790pts] - Dec PR & UC Dec #9t
Dec #9 - Javelin
6. Alex Bloom - 47.12m (154-07) [546pts]
Dec #10 - 1,500m Run
3. Alex Bloom - 4:54.36 [593pts]
Decathlon Day Two Scoring
Alex Bloom - 3,367 points - PR & UC #5
MEN'S TEAM SCORES - thru Day Two
1. UConn - 53
2. Houston - 52
3. East Carolina - 43
4. Memphis - 36
5. CINCINNATI - 35
6. Tulsa - 32
7. South Florida - 12
8. Tulane - 10