Tickets// ON THE STARTING LINE
The University of Cincinnati track and field teams return to the road this weekend as the Bearcats will travel to South Bend, Ind., to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational Saturday, January 20, inside the Loftus Sports Center on the UND campus. Cincinnati will be one of seven schools represented at the one-day meet that will see field events get underway at 10 a.m. while running events are slated to begin at noon.
// MEET INFORMATION
The single-day meet gets underway at 10 a.m. with the men's long jump and women's weight throw. On the track, the trials of the 60m hurdles lead off the running events at noon with the women followed by the men. The final event of the day will be the 4x400m relays with the women going at 2:45 p.m. and the men at 3 p.m. For live results, visit DeltaTiming.com.
// IN THE MEET
UC is one of seven teams with representation in the meet. Joining the Bearcats and host Notre Dame will be entrants from DePaul, Illinois State, Louisville, North Carolina and Nothern Illinois. According to the latest national rankings released by the USTFCCCA (Jan. 10), three women's team and one men's hold Top 50 rankings ahead of the competition, including the UC women at #21, the UC men at #48, the UND women at #41 and the UL women at #43.
// FOLLOW US
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with all using the handle GoBearcatsTFXC. As always, fans are encouraged to join in the conversation using the hashtag #Bearcats.
// QUICK STARTS
• Tiona Lattimore (women's track) and Adrian Valles (men's field) were both earned AAC Athlete of the Week honors following impressive results at Kentucky
• Lattimore ran three races at Kentucky, turning in the #2 (tie) and #2 (solo) times in the 60m dash and then the #3 time in the 200m
• Valles cleared a season-best 5.47m (17-11.25) to move up to #4 in the NCAA so far in 2018
• Over the weekend, the Bearcats recorded two marks that ranked in the Top 10 of the week, including Valles (#5) in the pole vault) and the women's DMR (#5)
• Through last week, the Bearcats hold 25 marks that rank in the NCAA Top 100 currently with three of the women's 14 marks and 2 of the men's 9 marks ranking in the Top 20
• According to the TFFRS lists, the UC women hold seven and the men three marks that currently lead all athletes in the American Athletic Conference
// IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS - TEAM
The USTFCCCA released its first computer rankings of the indoor season (Jan. 10) with both Bearcats teams earning spots in the Top 50. The rankings, which are based on accumulated points based on marks achieved during the season, have the women at #21 and the men at #48, both of which are the highest preseason rankings in program history for both sides.
// MORE ON THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The women's ranking of #21 equals their highest ranking in program history after finishing the 2017 season in the same spot. The ranking also stands as the highest preseason ranking the women have attained, surpassing the #29 ranking earned last year. While just the third Top 25 ranking UC has ever earned, it does mark the 19th week in a row that the women have been ranked among the national Top 50. On the men's side, their #48 ranking marks just the fourth time they have landed in the Top 50 with the previous three coming in the previous two seasons: #44 to end 2016, #42 to open 2017 and #50 in Week 1 of 2017.
// LATTIORE LETS LOOSE
Coming off an impressive rookie season, Lattimore picked up where she left off by not only running personal-best times in all three races she entered, but also moving up higher on the program's all-time Top 10 lists. First, she ran in the preliminary rounds of the 60m dash and raced to a time of 7.52, which improved her previous best of 7.71 by 0.21 seconds. Not only did that time qualify her to the final, it also shot her from tied for ninth to tied for second on the UC Top 10 list. Then, in the final, she lowered her time once again, this time running 7.48 to take sole possession of the #2 position and move closer to Natasha Burse's record of 7.40 (2011). Lattimore wasn't done there, however, as she next raced in the final of 200m dash. In the event, she once again lowered her personal-best time, taking her previous best of 24.28 down to 24.03 (-0.25) to move up to #3 all-time in program history. With both of her Top 10 marks on the weekend, Lattimore has now moved into the Top 3 in three indoor sprints, including #1 at 300m, #2 at 60m and #3 at 200m. She also is currently #7 in the 400m after running 55.77 last year at the AAC Championships. All told, Lattimore heads into this week's competition ranked #6 in the 60m and #1 in the 200m among athletes in the AAC while also ranking #51 and #23, respectively, on the national lists.
// VALLES VAULTING
In the men's pole vault in Lexington, it came down to a rematch of the NCAA Outdoor Championships as Valles dueled with Akron's Matthew Ludwig as the lone two vaulters remaining. Although Valles finished second to the Zips' vaulter, he did manage to clear 5.47m (17-11.25) to up his season-best clearance and move into fourth on the latest NCAA descending order lists. Valles' clearance, which was the fifth-best of the weekend across the all NCAA divisions, continues to keep the Bearcats senior in the overall lead in the AAC as he increased his advantage by nine inches. Valles will be looking to capture his fourth AAC title at the end of February.
// MEECE MAKING MOVES
On Friday night at the Kentucky Invitational, rookie Sam Meece entered his second collegiate weight throw competition and posted a huge improvement. In the meet, he finished with a best of 18.08m (59-04.00), which was an improvement of nearly 10 feet from his first collegaite competition and also moved him higher in the record books. With this toss, he not only ranks #5 all-time in the program's Top 10, but also took over the school's freshman record, a mark that was previous broken last year by Chris Province with his best of 15.81m (51-10.25). Prior to that, the record had stood since 1991 when Scott Ference threw 15.72m (51-07.00).
// IN THE TOP 10
Along with the three marks turned in by Lattimore and Meece's throwing, the Bearcats combined to post 12 total marks that now rank among the all-time Top 10 in program history. On the women's side, the sprints produced four more marks as Bryana Robinson ran the #9 (tie) time in the 60m (7.71) before running the #4 200m time (24.11) while Haisha Bisiolu ran the 200m in 24.37 for the #9 (tie) position. Staying on the track, Hannah Markel ran 10:06.77 in the 3,000m run to turn in the #9 time. In the field, Mary Purtsa bounced to #4 in the triple jump with a best of 11.87m (38-11.50) while Brooke Catherine cleared 4.05m (13-03.50) in the pole vault to move up to #4 (tie). On the men's side, Meece was joined by Isaiah McCall in the 60m hurdles (8.09) with the #5 (tie) time while Aaron Bienenfeld ran the #7 time in the 3,000m (8:23.99).
// CONTINUALLY UPDATING
The sprinting trio of Tiona Lattimore, Haisha Bisiolu and Bryana Robinson have made quite an impact on the UC record books in their short time in Clifton. Following their races at UK, those three ladies joined with Kellsa Mbah to claim four of the Top 10 marks in program history in the 60m dash since the start of last season as they now rank #2 (Lattimore), tied for #3 (Mbah 7.52), #5 (Bisiolu) and tied for #9 (Robinson). Also, Robinson has found a way to continually add her name to the ledgers as her addition to the 60m list today places her name in the Top 10 of five sprint events: tied #9 in the 60m, #4 in the 200m, #1 in the 400m, #3 in the 300m and #2 in the 500m. Couple that with the trio joining Deanna Gesicki on the school record 4x400m relay team last year, it is safe to say that they are not quite done editing the record books at UC just yet.
// IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Five of those all-time Top 10 marks came from newcomers to the team. The women's marks were obtained by redshirt freshman Hannah Markel (3,000m) and junior transfer Mary Purtsa (triple jump) while the men received Top 10 marks from true freshman Isaiah McCall (60m hurdles), sophomore transfer Aaron Bienenfeld (3,000m) and true freshman Sam Meece (weight throw). In fact, the marks by Purtsa and Bienenfeld both came in their collegiate debuts as Purtsa did not compete at the Hoosier Open in December and Bienenfeld joined the team just after the New Year.
// UP AND AWAY
Catherine's finish in the women's pole vault competition was solid as she cleared 4.05m (13-03.50) to climb into a tie for the #4 spot in UC history. In fact, with that clearance, she became just the fifth Bearcat vaulter to clear 4 meters in competition and is now onlyh the fifth UC woman to have cleared 4 meters in a meet both indoors and out after clearing 4.03m (13-02.50) last year at the Kenutcky Relays outdoor meet. She joins Mackenzie Fields, Alyssa McBride, Brittany Klima and Sarah Rasnick on the list of doublers.
// ON THE NATIONAL LIST
According to the latest NCAA order lists (TFRRS.org on Jan. 15), 23 total marks held by Bearcats athletes rank in the national Top 100 with the women having posted 14 of those marks and the men nine. Of those 23 marks, the women hold six marks in the national Top 25, including Annette Echikunwoke leading the weight throw and ranking seventh in the shot put. On the men's side, Adrian Valles is the highest ranked Bearcats competitor as he is fourth in the pole vault.
// TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS
According to those same lists, 10 marks held by the Bearcats, including seven by the women, currently lead the American Athletic Conference. On the women's side, Annette Echikunwoke continues to hold the top marks in the weight throw and the shot put while other leaders in the field events include Loretta Blaut (high jump), Brooke Catherine (pole vault) and Kellsa Mbah (long jump). On the track, UC's women hold two top marks, including Tiona Lattimore in the 200m and the team of Sam Mikula, Haisha Bisiolu, Alexis Anton and Meg Westerheide in the DMR. On the men's side, the leaders include Adrian Valles (pole vault), Alex Bloom (high jump) and the DMR team of Michael Vitucci, Jimmy Brooks, Logan Baker and Matt Stump.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// ANNETTE OFF TO HOT START
To say Annette Echikunwoke got her season off to a hot start might be an understatement. The defending national champion in the weight throw picked up where she left off in the event, smashing her own school and conference record with a heave of 23.15m (75-11.50) to easily win the event at the Hoosier Open (Dec. 8). While she broke her previous record by 1' 6", she also strung together a huge series of throws as four of her six marks were over 22 meters, a feat she accomplished last year six times while the rest of the nation combined for six tosses of 22m. She was not done there, though, as she took second in the shot put with a school-record toss of 16.72m (54-10.50) as well to rank among the Top 5 in the nation for the year so far.
// HISTORICAL MARK
Not only did Echikunwoke reset her own school and conference records, but she also pushed her name higher up both the NCAA and World all-time rankings. On a collegiate level, her toss of 23.15m makes her just the seventh different individual to surpass the 23m mark as she ranks #7 all-time (single mark list) while ranking #15 all-time on the list (Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois holds the #1 through #9 all-time marks). According to the statistical compilation of marks on Tilastopaja.net, Echikunwoke's toss of 23.15m also ranks her #16 all-time in the world.
// ANNETTE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Following her impressive opening weekend of action, Echikunwoke was selected as the American Athletic Conference Female Field Athlete of the Week (Dec. 12). The honor, her first of the year, marks the sixth time in her career that Echikunwoke has garnered an indoor accolade from the AAC and her seventh overall after being named to an outdoor award once.
// MORE ON HOOSIER OPEN - WOMEN
Six women's marks turned in at the Hoosier Open (Dec. 8) found their way onto the program's all-time Top 10 charts, including three school records. Echikunwoke broke her own school record in the weight throw with a heave of 23.15m while also bettering the shot put mark to 16.72m to break two of the records while Tiona Lattimore ran 38.43 in the 300m to break the previous record of 38.60 in 2015 by Kenya Woodall. In the same race, Haisha Bisiolu ran 39.07 to move up to #4 in the 300m while Bryana Robinson, who ran the fastest 500m in the nation that week at 1:11.45, moved up to #2. Meg Westerheide ran 2:57.99 in the 1,000m to post the #4 time in program history.
// MORE ON HOOSIER OPEN - MEN
Five marks recorded by the men rank in the program's all-time Top 10 with four of those marks coming from three men competing in their first indoor campaign for the Bearcats. Redshirt freshman Austin Edwards turned in two of those marks, including the #5 long jump mark at 7.45m while his 60m dash time of 6.88 ranks #7. Junior transfer Marcus Abraham hit a toss of 15.89m in the shot put for the #10 mark while true freshman Sam Meece recorded a mark of 16.75m in the weight throw for the #9 (tie) spot on the list. Jimmy Brooks ran 1:04.40 in the 500m to move to #5 all-time.
// ECHIKUNWOKE NAMED TRAILBLAZER
The University of Cincinnati African American Alumni Affiliate (4A) recently announced its 2018 Class of Onyx & Ruby Award honorees with Annette Echikunwoke being named the recipient of the Student Trailblazer Award and will be honored at the Onyx & Ruby Gala February 24 at the Sharonville Convention Center. The first national champion in program history after winning the 2017 NCAA weight throw title was selected for the award that is given annually to individuals who create university firsts or were at the forefront of movements and activities. For more information on the Gala and all award honorees, visit: Alumni.UC.edu/ORG18/Bios.
// GRADE CHECK
On January 10, Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) released academic data for the 2017 Fall semester, including those athletes that finished the semester with a 3.0 or better grade-point average. Overall, 62 track & field/cross country student-athletes recorded better than a 3.0 GPA, including 34 women and 28 men, to earn a place on the Bearcats Honor Roll. Of those student-athletes, 25 women and 19 men maintained a 3.4 GPA or better to garner Dean's List accolades. Also, four men and three women recorded perfect 4.0 GPAs to be named TopCats. That list included Spencer Clark, Dan Huben, Jacob Rieman and Adrian Valles for the men and Alexis Gray, Grace O'Donnell and Tessa Ward for the women.
// RETURNING CHAMPION
On March 11, 2017, Annette Echikunwoke capture the national title in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships, collecting the first crown in program history as she won with a heave of 22.42m (73-06.75). With her win, Echikunwoke became just the fifth UC student-athlete to win an individual national title in the history of UC Athletics. Prior to her victory, two diving and two swimming titles had been captured by Bearcats with the last coming in 2010 when Josh Schneider won the men's 50 freestyle. Echikunwoke also is now just the second UC woman to win an individual national crown, joining diver Becky Ruehl, who won the 1996 platform event at the NCAA meet. Prior to that trio, Pat Evans won the 3m diving event in 1989 and Charles Keating brought home the first gold with the title in 200 butterfly in 1946.
// SMASHING RECORDS
On her way to the title, the UC record holder broke her program mark three times during the year, bringing her haul to 11 times since the start of the 2016 season that she either tied or broke the mark with five of those throws coming at Indiana's facility. Prior to that season, the record was 19.53m (64-01.00) and was held by Mimi Merrill since 2001. Echikunwoke broke that record on her second throw of the 2016 season with a mark of 20.04m before bettering that record to 20.05m two rounds later at the Kentucky Invitational. From there, Echikunwoke improved the record five more times in 2016 and then four times in 2017 to eventually land at 22.69m (74-05.50), which is the current record and a 10' 4.5" improvement over Merrill's previous record.
// RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
Along with Echikunwoke, the Bearcats have one other returning indoor All-American and five more that earned the national accolade during the outdoor season last year. Adrian Valles finished fifth in the men's pole vault indoors last year before taking national runner-up honors outdoor to collect a pair of USTFCCCA All-America First Team honors, bringing his career total to five. Loretta Blaut placed in a tie for sixth in the high jump outdoors to earn first team honors while the team of Haisha Bisiolu, Deanna Gesicki, Tiona Lattimore and Bryana Robinson combined to earn USTFCCCA All-America Second Team honors in the 4x400m relay outdoors, the first for a relay in program history.
// THAT'S A FIRST
The women's 4x400m relay team was full of firsts in 2017. The quartet swept the 4x400m relay events at the AAC Indoor and AAC Outdoor Championships for the first crowns in program history. Then, the ladies broke the school record several times, including in their win at the conference outdoor meet before breaking it once again, running 3:36.59 at the regional meet to qualify for the national finals, marking the first UC relay to reach the NCAA outdoor meet. They weren't done there, however, as they broke the record once again in Eugene, running 3:35.96 in the semifinals to finish 15th overall. Despite not reaching the final, the team did earn USTFCCCA All-America Second Team accolades, marking the first time in program history a relay team earned All-America status.
// INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN
For the second time in his career, Adrian Valles took part in one of the largest meets in the world as he represented his native Spain in the 2017 IAAF World Outdoor Championships in London this past summer. Valles, who competed at the world meet in Beijing, China, in 2015, placed 16th overall in the qualification round this year. To get to London, Valles continued to chase a clearance of 5.70m throughout much of the collegiate season before he was added to the field in a pole vault competition in Landau, Germany. In the street event (raised runway on a city street), Valles climbed over the qualifying standard and punched his ticket to London.
// XC: DUNLAP EARNS ALL-CONFERENCE
Heading into the 2016 cross country season, the Bearcats women had not had an all-conference (Top 15) finisher in the AAC Championships. Then, Juliana Madzia, who was honored as a Top 30 selection for the 2016-17 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, finished 13th at the meet UC hosted to earn the program's first all-conference accolade since Ruth Limo at the 2004 Conference USA meet. This year, Madison Dunlap ran a personal-best time on a hilly course in Philadelphia to place 15th overall and earn her first all-conference selection and the program's second in as many years. The 15th woman in program history to earn cross country all-conference honors (25th total honor), Dunlap combines with Madzia to earn back-to-back conference honors for the first time since 2001 and 2002 when Angie Kist and Limo finished 12th and 10th, respectively, at the CUSA meet.
// MEN ACADEMICALLY HONORED
Following the cross country season, the American Athletic Conference announced its annual award winners with the UC men being named the 2017 AAC Team Academic Award winners. This is the second year in a row that the Bearcats men have won the award, which is given to the team with the highest cumulative GPA.
// HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The Bearcats welcomed 22 newcomers to the program this year, including 18 true freshmen, with 17 of those total newcomers joining the men's roster. Joining the men's track & field and cross country rosters are freshmen Cameron Davis (Strongsville), Connor Duricky (Mentor), Ryan Guenthner (Louisville, Ky.), Danny Jones (Canal Winchester), Albert Kalala (Cincinnati), Isaiah McCall (Lexington, Ky.), Sam Meece (Napolean), Issac Naayers (Lancaster), Cannon Riddle (Hilliard), Jacob Rieman (Beavercreek), Matt Stump (Medina), Brandon White (Stafford, Va.) and Zion Wynn (Loveland). The men also welcomed in transfers Marcus Abraham (Charlotte, N.C./Gardner-Webb U.), Branden Nosker (Troy, Ohio/Mississippi State) and Anthony Woods (Macedonia, Ohio/Ohio Dominican U.) with Steven Zombory (Chardon) joining the program after running for the campus running club. On the women's side, four of the five newcomers are true freshmen, including Sydney Hess (Curtice), Kennedy Marable (Toledo), Sam Mikula (Columbus) and Katrina Patterson (Clarence, N.Y.) with the fifth newcomer being Mary Purtsa (Germany).
// WELCOME TO UC!
While the majority of newcomers to the 2017-18 rosters were men, the 2018-19 signing class is comprised mostly of women. The class, which will join the Bearcats in time for the 2018 cross country and 2019 track & field seasons, includes 13 members, including nine women and four men. The women's class includes Faith Banks (Macedonia), Kaylia Black (Sandusky), Caisja Chandler (Euclid), Kylie Cutlip (Quaker City), Izzy Kline (Newton Falls), Carmen Licht (Macedonia), Leah Maschino (Maineville), Rylee Penn (Corona, Calif.) and Malin Smith (Lansing, Mich.) while the newest members of the men's program will include Toni Banos (Berga, Spain), Aaron Bienenfeld (Frankfurt, Germany), Austin Goolsby (Hillsboro) and Quincy Mitchell (Hanahan, S.C.).
// TWO MORE TO ADD
The Bearcats men added a pair of mid-year competitors over the winter break as signee Bienenfeld and transfer Andre Wright are ready to compete for the Bearcats immediately. Both individuals will be entering their sophomore seasons with Bienenfeld coming from the University of Frankfurt (Germany) and Wright transferring in from Liberty University. Bienenfeld will run in the distance events while Wright will take part in the horizontal jumps (long and triple).
// UC HOSTING AAC OUTDOORS IN 2018
This season, the 2018 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be hosted by the Bearcats at Gettler Stadium and Coy Field. The three-day meet will take place May 11-13 on the UC campus and will mark the first AAC track & field meet the Bearcats have played host and the second AAC meet UC has hosted after holding the 2016 AAC Cross Country Championships at Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester. The last time the Bearcats played host to a conference meet came in 2010 when the BIG EAST meet was held at Gettler Stadium.
// UP NEXT
Cincinnati will make a return trip to Bloomington, Ind., next week as the Bearcats are set to compete in the Indiana Relays January 26-27 inside the Gladstein Fieldhouse. Along with the usual events, the Bearcats also will have a chance to enter individuals in the men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon to get the multi-event athletes into their main events.
The University of Cincinnati track and field teams return to the road this weekend as the Bearcats will travel to South Bend, Ind., to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational Saturday, January 20, inside the Loftus Sports Center on the UND campus. Cincinnati will be one of seven schools represented at the one-day meet that will see field events get underway at 10 a.m. while running events are slated to begin at noon.
// MEET INFORMATION
The single-day meet gets underway at 10 a.m. with the men's long jump and women's weight throw. On the track, the trials of the 60m hurdles lead off the running events at noon with the women followed by the men. The final event of the day will be the 4x400m relays with the women going at 2:45 p.m. and the men at 3 p.m. For live results, visit DeltaTiming.com.
// IN THE MEET
UC is one of seven teams with representation in the meet. Joining the Bearcats and host Notre Dame will be entrants from DePaul, Illinois State, Louisville, North Carolina and Nothern Illinois. According to the latest national rankings released by the USTFCCCA (Jan. 10), three women's team and one men's hold Top 50 rankings ahead of the competition, including the UC women at #21, the UC men at #48, the UND women at #41 and the UL women at #43.
// FOLLOW US
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with all using the handle GoBearcatsTFXC. As always, fans are encouraged to join in the conversation using the hashtag #Bearcats.
// QUICK STARTS
• Tiona Lattimore (women's track) and Adrian Valles (men's field) were both earned AAC Athlete of the Week honors following impressive results at Kentucky
• Lattimore ran three races at Kentucky, turning in the #2 (tie) and #2 (solo) times in the 60m dash and then the #3 time in the 200m
• Valles cleared a season-best 5.47m (17-11.25) to move up to #4 in the NCAA so far in 2018
• Over the weekend, the Bearcats recorded two marks that ranked in the Top 10 of the week, including Valles (#5) in the pole vault) and the women's DMR (#5)
• Through last week, the Bearcats hold 25 marks that rank in the NCAA Top 100 currently with three of the women's 14 marks and 2 of the men's 9 marks ranking in the Top 20
• According to the TFFRS lists, the UC women hold seven and the men three marks that currently lead all athletes in the American Athletic Conference
// IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS - TEAM
The USTFCCCA released its first computer rankings of the indoor season (Jan. 10) with both Bearcats teams earning spots in the Top 50. The rankings, which are based on accumulated points based on marks achieved during the season, have the women at #21 and the men at #48, both of which are the highest preseason rankings in program history for both sides.
// MORE ON THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The women's ranking of #21 equals their highest ranking in program history after finishing the 2017 season in the same spot. The ranking also stands as the highest preseason ranking the women have attained, surpassing the #29 ranking earned last year. While just the third Top 25 ranking UC has ever earned, it does mark the 19th week in a row that the women have been ranked among the national Top 50. On the men's side, their #48 ranking marks just the fourth time they have landed in the Top 50 with the previous three coming in the previous two seasons: #44 to end 2016, #42 to open 2017 and #50 in Week 1 of 2017.
// LATTIORE LETS LOOSE
Coming off an impressive rookie season, Lattimore picked up where she left off by not only running personal-best times in all three races she entered, but also moving up higher on the program's all-time Top 10 lists. First, she ran in the preliminary rounds of the 60m dash and raced to a time of 7.52, which improved her previous best of 7.71 by 0.21 seconds. Not only did that time qualify her to the final, it also shot her from tied for ninth to tied for second on the UC Top 10 list. Then, in the final, she lowered her time once again, this time running 7.48 to take sole possession of the #2 position and move closer to Natasha Burse's record of 7.40 (2011). Lattimore wasn't done there, however, as she next raced in the final of 200m dash. In the event, she once again lowered her personal-best time, taking her previous best of 24.28 down to 24.03 (-0.25) to move up to #3 all-time in program history. With both of her Top 10 marks on the weekend, Lattimore has now moved into the Top 3 in three indoor sprints, including #1 at 300m, #2 at 60m and #3 at 200m. She also is currently #7 in the 400m after running 55.77 last year at the AAC Championships. All told, Lattimore heads into this week's competition ranked #6 in the 60m and #1 in the 200m among athletes in the AAC while also ranking #51 and #23, respectively, on the national lists.
// VALLES VAULTING
In the men's pole vault in Lexington, it came down to a rematch of the NCAA Outdoor Championships as Valles dueled with Akron's Matthew Ludwig as the lone two vaulters remaining. Although Valles finished second to the Zips' vaulter, he did manage to clear 5.47m (17-11.25) to up his season-best clearance and move into fourth on the latest NCAA descending order lists. Valles' clearance, which was the fifth-best of the weekend across the all NCAA divisions, continues to keep the Bearcats senior in the overall lead in the AAC as he increased his advantage by nine inches. Valles will be looking to capture his fourth AAC title at the end of February.
// MEECE MAKING MOVES
On Friday night at the Kentucky Invitational, rookie Sam Meece entered his second collegiate weight throw competition and posted a huge improvement. In the meet, he finished with a best of 18.08m (59-04.00), which was an improvement of nearly 10 feet from his first collegaite competition and also moved him higher in the record books. With this toss, he not only ranks #5 all-time in the program's Top 10, but also took over the school's freshman record, a mark that was previous broken last year by Chris Province with his best of 15.81m (51-10.25). Prior to that, the record had stood since 1991 when Scott Ference threw 15.72m (51-07.00).
// IN THE TOP 10
Along with the three marks turned in by Lattimore and Meece's throwing, the Bearcats combined to post 12 total marks that now rank among the all-time Top 10 in program history. On the women's side, the sprints produced four more marks as Bryana Robinson ran the #9 (tie) time in the 60m (7.71) before running the #4 200m time (24.11) while Haisha Bisiolu ran the 200m in 24.37 for the #9 (tie) position. Staying on the track, Hannah Markel ran 10:06.77 in the 3,000m run to turn in the #9 time. In the field, Mary Purtsa bounced to #4 in the triple jump with a best of 11.87m (38-11.50) while Brooke Catherine cleared 4.05m (13-03.50) in the pole vault to move up to #4 (tie). On the men's side, Meece was joined by Isaiah McCall in the 60m hurdles (8.09) with the #5 (tie) time while Aaron Bienenfeld ran the #7 time in the 3,000m (8:23.99).
// CONTINUALLY UPDATING
The sprinting trio of Tiona Lattimore, Haisha Bisiolu and Bryana Robinson have made quite an impact on the UC record books in their short time in Clifton. Following their races at UK, those three ladies joined with Kellsa Mbah to claim four of the Top 10 marks in program history in the 60m dash since the start of last season as they now rank #2 (Lattimore), tied for #3 (Mbah 7.52), #5 (Bisiolu) and tied for #9 (Robinson). Also, Robinson has found a way to continually add her name to the ledgers as her addition to the 60m list today places her name in the Top 10 of five sprint events: tied #9 in the 60m, #4 in the 200m, #1 in the 400m, #3 in the 300m and #2 in the 500m. Couple that with the trio joining Deanna Gesicki on the school record 4x400m relay team last year, it is safe to say that they are not quite done editing the record books at UC just yet.
// IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Five of those all-time Top 10 marks came from newcomers to the team. The women's marks were obtained by redshirt freshman Hannah Markel (3,000m) and junior transfer Mary Purtsa (triple jump) while the men received Top 10 marks from true freshman Isaiah McCall (60m hurdles), sophomore transfer Aaron Bienenfeld (3,000m) and true freshman Sam Meece (weight throw). In fact, the marks by Purtsa and Bienenfeld both came in their collegiate debuts as Purtsa did not compete at the Hoosier Open in December and Bienenfeld joined the team just after the New Year.
// UP AND AWAY
Catherine's finish in the women's pole vault competition was solid as she cleared 4.05m (13-03.50) to climb into a tie for the #4 spot in UC history. In fact, with that clearance, she became just the fifth Bearcat vaulter to clear 4 meters in competition and is now onlyh the fifth UC woman to have cleared 4 meters in a meet both indoors and out after clearing 4.03m (13-02.50) last year at the Kenutcky Relays outdoor meet. She joins Mackenzie Fields, Alyssa McBride, Brittany Klima and Sarah Rasnick on the list of doublers.
// ON THE NATIONAL LIST
According to the latest NCAA order lists (TFRRS.org on Jan. 15), 23 total marks held by Bearcats athletes rank in the national Top 100 with the women having posted 14 of those marks and the men nine. Of those 23 marks, the women hold six marks in the national Top 25, including Annette Echikunwoke leading the weight throw and ranking seventh in the shot put. On the men's side, Adrian Valles is the highest ranked Bearcats competitor as he is fourth in the pole vault.
// TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS
According to those same lists, 10 marks held by the Bearcats, including seven by the women, currently lead the American Athletic Conference. On the women's side, Annette Echikunwoke continues to hold the top marks in the weight throw and the shot put while other leaders in the field events include Loretta Blaut (high jump), Brooke Catherine (pole vault) and Kellsa Mbah (long jump). On the track, UC's women hold two top marks, including Tiona Lattimore in the 200m and the team of Sam Mikula, Haisha Bisiolu, Alexis Anton and Meg Westerheide in the DMR. On the men's side, the leaders include Adrian Valles (pole vault), Alex Bloom (high jump) and the DMR team of Michael Vitucci, Jimmy Brooks, Logan Baker and Matt Stump.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// ANNETTE OFF TO HOT START
To say Annette Echikunwoke got her season off to a hot start might be an understatement. The defending national champion in the weight throw picked up where she left off in the event, smashing her own school and conference record with a heave of 23.15m (75-11.50) to easily win the event at the Hoosier Open (Dec. 8). While she broke her previous record by 1' 6", she also strung together a huge series of throws as four of her six marks were over 22 meters, a feat she accomplished last year six times while the rest of the nation combined for six tosses of 22m. She was not done there, though, as she took second in the shot put with a school-record toss of 16.72m (54-10.50) as well to rank among the Top 5 in the nation for the year so far.
// HISTORICAL MARK
Not only did Echikunwoke reset her own school and conference records, but she also pushed her name higher up both the NCAA and World all-time rankings. On a collegiate level, her toss of 23.15m makes her just the seventh different individual to surpass the 23m mark as she ranks #7 all-time (single mark list) while ranking #15 all-time on the list (Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois holds the #1 through #9 all-time marks). According to the statistical compilation of marks on Tilastopaja.net, Echikunwoke's toss of 23.15m also ranks her #16 all-time in the world.
// ANNETTE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Following her impressive opening weekend of action, Echikunwoke was selected as the American Athletic Conference Female Field Athlete of the Week (Dec. 12). The honor, her first of the year, marks the sixth time in her career that Echikunwoke has garnered an indoor accolade from the AAC and her seventh overall after being named to an outdoor award once.
// MORE ON HOOSIER OPEN - WOMEN
Six women's marks turned in at the Hoosier Open (Dec. 8) found their way onto the program's all-time Top 10 charts, including three school records. Echikunwoke broke her own school record in the weight throw with a heave of 23.15m while also bettering the shot put mark to 16.72m to break two of the records while Tiona Lattimore ran 38.43 in the 300m to break the previous record of 38.60 in 2015 by Kenya Woodall. In the same race, Haisha Bisiolu ran 39.07 to move up to #4 in the 300m while Bryana Robinson, who ran the fastest 500m in the nation that week at 1:11.45, moved up to #2. Meg Westerheide ran 2:57.99 in the 1,000m to post the #4 time in program history.
// MORE ON HOOSIER OPEN - MEN
Five marks recorded by the men rank in the program's all-time Top 10 with four of those marks coming from three men competing in their first indoor campaign for the Bearcats. Redshirt freshman Austin Edwards turned in two of those marks, including the #5 long jump mark at 7.45m while his 60m dash time of 6.88 ranks #7. Junior transfer Marcus Abraham hit a toss of 15.89m in the shot put for the #10 mark while true freshman Sam Meece recorded a mark of 16.75m in the weight throw for the #9 (tie) spot on the list. Jimmy Brooks ran 1:04.40 in the 500m to move to #5 all-time.
// ECHIKUNWOKE NAMED TRAILBLAZER
The University of Cincinnati African American Alumni Affiliate (4A) recently announced its 2018 Class of Onyx & Ruby Award honorees with Annette Echikunwoke being named the recipient of the Student Trailblazer Award and will be honored at the Onyx & Ruby Gala February 24 at the Sharonville Convention Center. The first national champion in program history after winning the 2017 NCAA weight throw title was selected for the award that is given annually to individuals who create university firsts or were at the forefront of movements and activities. For more information on the Gala and all award honorees, visit: Alumni.UC.edu/ORG18/Bios.
// GRADE CHECK
On January 10, Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) released academic data for the 2017 Fall semester, including those athletes that finished the semester with a 3.0 or better grade-point average. Overall, 62 track & field/cross country student-athletes recorded better than a 3.0 GPA, including 34 women and 28 men, to earn a place on the Bearcats Honor Roll. Of those student-athletes, 25 women and 19 men maintained a 3.4 GPA or better to garner Dean's List accolades. Also, four men and three women recorded perfect 4.0 GPAs to be named TopCats. That list included Spencer Clark, Dan Huben, Jacob Rieman and Adrian Valles for the men and Alexis Gray, Grace O'Donnell and Tessa Ward for the women.
// RETURNING CHAMPION
On March 11, 2017, Annette Echikunwoke capture the national title in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships, collecting the first crown in program history as she won with a heave of 22.42m (73-06.75). With her win, Echikunwoke became just the fifth UC student-athlete to win an individual national title in the history of UC Athletics. Prior to her victory, two diving and two swimming titles had been captured by Bearcats with the last coming in 2010 when Josh Schneider won the men's 50 freestyle. Echikunwoke also is now just the second UC woman to win an individual national crown, joining diver Becky Ruehl, who won the 1996 platform event at the NCAA meet. Prior to that trio, Pat Evans won the 3m diving event in 1989 and Charles Keating brought home the first gold with the title in 200 butterfly in 1946.
// SMASHING RECORDS
On her way to the title, the UC record holder broke her program mark three times during the year, bringing her haul to 11 times since the start of the 2016 season that she either tied or broke the mark with five of those throws coming at Indiana's facility. Prior to that season, the record was 19.53m (64-01.00) and was held by Mimi Merrill since 2001. Echikunwoke broke that record on her second throw of the 2016 season with a mark of 20.04m before bettering that record to 20.05m two rounds later at the Kentucky Invitational. From there, Echikunwoke improved the record five more times in 2016 and then four times in 2017 to eventually land at 22.69m (74-05.50), which is the current record and a 10' 4.5" improvement over Merrill's previous record.
// RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
Along with Echikunwoke, the Bearcats have one other returning indoor All-American and five more that earned the national accolade during the outdoor season last year. Adrian Valles finished fifth in the men's pole vault indoors last year before taking national runner-up honors outdoor to collect a pair of USTFCCCA All-America First Team honors, bringing his career total to five. Loretta Blaut placed in a tie for sixth in the high jump outdoors to earn first team honors while the team of Haisha Bisiolu, Deanna Gesicki, Tiona Lattimore and Bryana Robinson combined to earn USTFCCCA All-America Second Team honors in the 4x400m relay outdoors, the first for a relay in program history.
// THAT'S A FIRST
The women's 4x400m relay team was full of firsts in 2017. The quartet swept the 4x400m relay events at the AAC Indoor and AAC Outdoor Championships for the first crowns in program history. Then, the ladies broke the school record several times, including in their win at the conference outdoor meet before breaking it once again, running 3:36.59 at the regional meet to qualify for the national finals, marking the first UC relay to reach the NCAA outdoor meet. They weren't done there, however, as they broke the record once again in Eugene, running 3:35.96 in the semifinals to finish 15th overall. Despite not reaching the final, the team did earn USTFCCCA All-America Second Team accolades, marking the first time in program history a relay team earned All-America status.
// INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN
For the second time in his career, Adrian Valles took part in one of the largest meets in the world as he represented his native Spain in the 2017 IAAF World Outdoor Championships in London this past summer. Valles, who competed at the world meet in Beijing, China, in 2015, placed 16th overall in the qualification round this year. To get to London, Valles continued to chase a clearance of 5.70m throughout much of the collegiate season before he was added to the field in a pole vault competition in Landau, Germany. In the street event (raised runway on a city street), Valles climbed over the qualifying standard and punched his ticket to London.
// XC: DUNLAP EARNS ALL-CONFERENCE
Heading into the 2016 cross country season, the Bearcats women had not had an all-conference (Top 15) finisher in the AAC Championships. Then, Juliana Madzia, who was honored as a Top 30 selection for the 2016-17 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, finished 13th at the meet UC hosted to earn the program's first all-conference accolade since Ruth Limo at the 2004 Conference USA meet. This year, Madison Dunlap ran a personal-best time on a hilly course in Philadelphia to place 15th overall and earn her first all-conference selection and the program's second in as many years. The 15th woman in program history to earn cross country all-conference honors (25th total honor), Dunlap combines with Madzia to earn back-to-back conference honors for the first time since 2001 and 2002 when Angie Kist and Limo finished 12th and 10th, respectively, at the CUSA meet.
// MEN ACADEMICALLY HONORED
Following the cross country season, the American Athletic Conference announced its annual award winners with the UC men being named the 2017 AAC Team Academic Award winners. This is the second year in a row that the Bearcats men have won the award, which is given to the team with the highest cumulative GPA.
// HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The Bearcats welcomed 22 newcomers to the program this year, including 18 true freshmen, with 17 of those total newcomers joining the men's roster. Joining the men's track & field and cross country rosters are freshmen Cameron Davis (Strongsville), Connor Duricky (Mentor), Ryan Guenthner (Louisville, Ky.), Danny Jones (Canal Winchester), Albert Kalala (Cincinnati), Isaiah McCall (Lexington, Ky.), Sam Meece (Napolean), Issac Naayers (Lancaster), Cannon Riddle (Hilliard), Jacob Rieman (Beavercreek), Matt Stump (Medina), Brandon White (Stafford, Va.) and Zion Wynn (Loveland). The men also welcomed in transfers Marcus Abraham (Charlotte, N.C./Gardner-Webb U.), Branden Nosker (Troy, Ohio/Mississippi State) and Anthony Woods (Macedonia, Ohio/Ohio Dominican U.) with Steven Zombory (Chardon) joining the program after running for the campus running club. On the women's side, four of the five newcomers are true freshmen, including Sydney Hess (Curtice), Kennedy Marable (Toledo), Sam Mikula (Columbus) and Katrina Patterson (Clarence, N.Y.) with the fifth newcomer being Mary Purtsa (Germany).
// WELCOME TO UC!
While the majority of newcomers to the 2017-18 rosters were men, the 2018-19 signing class is comprised mostly of women. The class, which will join the Bearcats in time for the 2018 cross country and 2019 track & field seasons, includes 13 members, including nine women and four men. The women's class includes Faith Banks (Macedonia), Kaylia Black (Sandusky), Caisja Chandler (Euclid), Kylie Cutlip (Quaker City), Izzy Kline (Newton Falls), Carmen Licht (Macedonia), Leah Maschino (Maineville), Rylee Penn (Corona, Calif.) and Malin Smith (Lansing, Mich.) while the newest members of the men's program will include Toni Banos (Berga, Spain), Aaron Bienenfeld (Frankfurt, Germany), Austin Goolsby (Hillsboro) and Quincy Mitchell (Hanahan, S.C.).
// TWO MORE TO ADD
The Bearcats men added a pair of mid-year competitors over the winter break as signee Bienenfeld and transfer Andre Wright are ready to compete for the Bearcats immediately. Both individuals will be entering their sophomore seasons with Bienenfeld coming from the University of Frankfurt (Germany) and Wright transferring in from Liberty University. Bienenfeld will run in the distance events while Wright will take part in the horizontal jumps (long and triple).
// UC HOSTING AAC OUTDOORS IN 2018
This season, the 2018 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be hosted by the Bearcats at Gettler Stadium and Coy Field. The three-day meet will take place May 11-13 on the UC campus and will mark the first AAC track & field meet the Bearcats have played host and the second AAC meet UC has hosted after holding the 2016 AAC Cross Country Championships at Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester. The last time the Bearcats played host to a conference meet came in 2010 when the BIG EAST meet was held at Gettler Stadium.
// UP NEXT
Cincinnati will make a return trip to Bloomington, Ind., next week as the Bearcats are set to compete in the Indiana Relays January 26-27 inside the Gladstein Fieldhouse. Along with the usual events, the Bearcats also will have a chance to enter individuals in the men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon to get the multi-event athletes into their main events.