Tickets// ON THE STARTING LINE
The University of Cincinnati track and field program is set to compete for the first time in three weeks as the Bearcats will play host to the 14th Oliver Nikoloff Open this weekend with action taking place both Friday and Saturday on campus. The meet opens Friday with the women's hammer competition at Coy Field starting at 12:30 p.m. with the lone track event the day, the 10,000m run, starting at 5 p.m. at Gettler Stadium. On Saturday, the women's javelin, women's pole vault and mens discus will lead things off at 10 a.m. while the men's 3,000m steeplechase will be the first event on the track starting at noon.
// FIRST OF TWO
The Nikoloff event will be the first of two meets hosted at Gettler Stadium and Coy Field this year with the 2018 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships set to be held at the venues May 11-13. The meet will be the first conference track & field event UC has hosted since welcoming the BIG EAST to campus for the 2008 event. The track & field event also will be the second AAC event UC has played host to after hosting the 2016 cross country championships at Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester.
// SENIOR SENDOFF
Starting at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, the UC program will honor 29 seniors for their contributions during their time in Clifton. Those 29 individuals include: Sergio Acera, Alexis Anton, Aliya Barnes, Alex Bloom, Jimmy Brooks, Spencer Clark, Seamus Collins, Madison Dunlap, Khalid Fuller, Deanna Gesicki, Alexis Gray, Ryan Greene, Dan Huben, Maggie Loeffler, Kellsa Mbah, Jaashir Morris, Branden Nosker, Grace O'Donnell, Juliana Puopolo, Bryana Robinson, Sylvana Ross, Adrian Valles, Tessa Ward, Meg Westerheide, Ashley Williams, Kelvin Williams, Halen Witcher, Ben Wollenslegel and Mike Wood.
// OLIVER NIKOLOFF
This weekend's meet is named for former Bearcats coach Oliver M. Nikoloff, whom dedicated 42 years of service to UC as both a teacher and coach, including the track & field, tennis and soccer programs. Joining UC in 1917 and plying his trade through the 1959 academic year, much of the program's record book was filled with his athletes' names. A 1912 graduate of Oberlin College, Nikoloff was a standout athlete, excelling in both basketball and tennis. Coach Nikoloff passed away in 1964.
// ON THE GUEST LIST
The Bearcats will welcome representatives from 20 other schools to campus this week, including many of the local teams from the region. Along with the Bearcats and Coach Nikoloff's alma mater, Oberlin, the other teams set to compete include Ball State, Bowling Green, Butler, Cleveland State, Dayton, Eastern Kentucky, Ft. Wayne, Hillsdale, Indiana (Pa.), IUPUI, Kent State, Marian (Ind.), Miami (Ohio), Northern Kentucky, Ohio, Wayne State, Wright State, Xavier and York.
// GET THE RESULTS
FinishTiming.com will be on hand to provide live result updates throughout the meet (CLICK HERE).
// 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
• The last time out, the women placed 12th in the nation at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the best finish in program history and UC's first Top 15 finish
• Echikunwoke and Blaut both finished as the national runners-up in their events at NCAAs
• Four Bearcats competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships with all four earning USTFCCCA All-America recognition, including Blaut, Echikunwoke and Valles (1st team) and Bloom (2nd team)
• Valles tied Al Lanier for the most All-America accolades in program history with six
• Blaut and Echikunwoke now each have 4 career All-America accolades, tying Erika Hurd for the most in women's program history
• For the second time in his career, Valles earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award, given to each athlete with the highest GPA at each of the NCAA's 90 national events each year
// RUNNERS-UP
At the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 9-10) in College Station, Texas, both UC women that competed finished as the national runners-up in their respective events with Loretta Blaut placing second in the high jump and Annette Echikunwoke second in the weight throw. Outside of Echikunwoke's national crown won last year in the same event, the silver medal finishes mark the second-highest finishes in program history as each woman scored eight points each.
// SO CLOSE
Not only did both women finish second nationally, both did so by very slim margins. For Blaut, she tied for the national title with Nicole Green (North Carolina) before both women took part in a seven-attempt jump-off to determine the national champion. After six rounds, Blaut was unable to clear the bar and Green did to secure the title. The next day, Echikunwoke had a best throw of 23.29m heading into the final round of throws before Kaitlyn Long (Minnesota) threw 23.30m to edge Echikunwoke for the title by 1cm.
// HIGH FINISH
Despite both women finishing second in their events, each earned eight team points to give the Bearcats 16 for the meet. The point total and team finish of 12th nationally both are the highest achieved in the history of the women's program, surpassing the 10 points and tied for 21st-place finish UC recorded one year ago.
// VAULTING VALLES
For the seventh NCAA track & field meet in a row, Adrian Valles was part of the competition and, for the sixth time, he cleared several bars to place in the Top 8 and earn USTFCCCA All-America First Team accolades. The two-time IAAF World Championships competitor for Spain and seven-time AAC pole vault champion, Valles cleared 5.55m (18-02.50) to tie for fifth place overall and earn 3.5 team points, which would end up tying the Bearcats men for 52nd place. Valles is now a four-time All-American indoors and will look for his seventh career accolade later this year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
// ELITE AGAIN
Prior to the meet, Valles was honored for the second year in a row as the recipient of the NCAA Elite 90 Award. The honor is given to the student-athlete at each of the NCAA's 90 championship sites (all three divisions throughout the year) that holds the highest GPA of all entrants at the location. Valles first earned the accolade last year and was the first member of the Bearcats program to receive the honor in any sport in the history of UC Athletics.
// BLOOMING
In his final indoor collegiate season, Alex Bloom made the most of it as he qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time as the 16th-ranked man in the heptathlon. Following the two-day, seven-event competition, Bloom battled to a score of 5,618 points and a 12th-place showing, moving up four spots from his initial ranking. Not only did he compete in the national meet for the first time in his career, he also earned his first career USTFCCCA All-America honor, earning a second team accolades for his Top 16 finish. To add to his historic competition, Bloom also is the only UC man to compete in the indoor combined events and is just the second UC man to earn All-America honors in the combined events after his current coach Chris Wineberg took eighth place in the outdoor decathlon in 2004.
// ALL-TIME ALL-AMERICANS - MEN
Valles recently earned his fourth indoor All-America honor, bringing his career total to six and tying him with Al Lanier for the most All-America honors earned in a career for the UC track & field program. Lanier earned four in the long jump and two in the triple jump between 1972 and 1973 (indoor and outdoor) to hold the most accolades in program history until Valles' tie for fifth-place earlier this month gave him his sixth honor to Lanier. Valles will have one more chance to add to his All-America total during the outdoor season and, should he place in the Top 16 at the national meet in Eugene, Ore., he will take over the all-time record at UC.
// ALL-TIME ALL-AMERICANS - WOMEN
With their honors earned at the NCAA Indoor Championships, both Blaut and Echikunwoke tied for the program record for the most All-America honors earned by a UC woman, joining Erika Hurd (2015-16) as the record holders with four each. Echikunwoke leads all women with four selections to the first team while Blaut is second with three first-team honors and one second-team accolade. Hurd, who competed in the high jump, earned first team and second team honors twice each.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// BIG AWARDS
In recent weeks, Annette Echikunwoke has seen her name called for prestigious honors. First, she was added to The Bowerman Watch List, becoming the first members of the Bearcats program (man or woman) to be selected for the elite list that will be used to select the top collegiate athlete of the year. Then, that was followed up with the announcement she had been selected as the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Female Field Athlete of the Year. She is now eligible for the national athlete of the year honor for indoors.
// MAKING HER-STORY
Prior to the NCAA Championships, the Bearcats women traveled to Birmingham, Ala., and returned home to Cincinnati with the American Athletic Conference crown, the women's program's first indoor conference title. The two-time defending outdoor champions scored an AAC-record 147 points to easily win their crown after falling two points shy one year ago, falling to UCF, 122-120.
// TELL'EM LARGE MARGIN SENT YA!
The women won their title by a 62-point margin, the largest in the history of the American Athletic Conference. The previous largest margin came in 2016 when UC was the runner-up by 24.5 points.
// GRABBING GOLD
At the AAC Championships, the Bearcats collected nine conference titles with the women winning seven and the men two. For the women, champions included Bryana Robinson (400m), Irati Mitxelena (triple jump), Loretta Blaut (high jump), Brooke Catherine (pole vault), Annette Echikunwoke (shot put and weight throw) and Naomi Urbano (pentathlon). The men's champions included Alex Bloom (high jump) and Adrian Valles (pole vault).
// UNDEFEATED
With his win at the AAC Championships, Valles became the first athlete in the five-year history of the conference to win the same event four times in a career. Valles, who also has won each of the last three pole vault titles outdoors, is undefeated in competitions against AAC foes, winning all seven league meets he has entered in his Bearcats career.
// SWEEP IT UP
Three different sweeps were recorded by the Bearcats at the AAC Championships:
• The Bearcats won both high jump events as Bloom won his first indoor crown with a clearance of 2.11m while Blaut successfully defended her title with a meet-record clearance of 1.87m
• Valles won his fourth-consecutive pole vault title with a best of 5.50m while Brooke Catherine won her first conference title by taking the women's title with a winning clearance of 4.09m
• Echikunwoke did her own sweeping as she won the shot put with a meet-record toss of 16.50m after winning her third weight throw title in as many years with a toss of 22.15m
// KEEPER OF THE CROWN
With Blaut's win in the high jump, the victory was not only her second in as many years at the AAC meet, but also kept the title in Cincinnati, the only home the women's high jump crown has known in the five years of the AAC. In the first three years, former All-American Erika Hurd won all three titles, giving UC the victory in five-consecutive meets.
// BIG POINTS
Not only did the Bearcats have seven champions, they also scored huge points in a pair of events to distance themselves from the rest of the field as the 400m runners and shot put throwers combined for 46 points - more than six different teams scored in the entire meet. In the 400m, the Bearcats finished 1-2-4-5 as Robinson (10 points) won the event in 53.37 with Tiona Lattimore (8) close behind in 54.21. Haisha Bisiolu (5) took fourth place with a time of 54.76 while Deanna Gesicki (4), who was ranked 10th ahead of the meet, placed fifth in 56.53. In the shot put, it was another 1-2 punch for the Bearcats as Echikunwoke (10) was victorious and Ashley Williams (8) took second with a best of 15.82m (51-11.00), the #3 mark in program history. Leah Heckaman (1) added to the total by placing eighth with a toss of 14.91m (48-11.00).
// FIRE 400
The members of the women's 4x400m relay brought the heat in Nashville as the each turned in superb times in the open 400m before laying down a school-record 3:36.96 in the relay at the end of the meet. In the open, Bryana Robinson led the way running 53.31, just off her season-best and UC record 53.08, while Tiona Lattimore was just behind her in 53.75, the #3 time in program history. Haisha Bisiolu ran 54.46 to post the #4 time in Bearcats history with Deanna Gesicki running 56.28 to post the #10 time in program history, meaning all four women are now in the Top 10 for the first time. Later in the meet, the four came together and ran 3:36.96, breaking their own school record by 3.17 seconds as they ran splits of 53.7 (Lattimore), 54.5 (Bisiolu), 55.5 (Gesicki) and 52.9 (Robinson). Through the weekend, the relay is the leader in the American while the individual runners rank #1 (Robinson), #2 (Lattimore), #4 (Bisiolu) and #9 (Gesicki) in the open 400m race. If they were to finish this way at the conference meet, that would be a huge 33 points for the women's team.
// MORE ON THE RELAY
Last year, the relay team made history as the first Bearcats relay to not only make the national meet, but also earned All-America honors (second team). Their record run this past weekend added to their historical accounts as they posted the #4 time ever at UC when combining indoor and outdoor marks, giving them the Top 4 marks all-time. When removing their three marks run last year during the outdoor season that broke the record each time, the team's indoor mark run last weekend is faster than any other relay team UC has ever assembled.
// BIENENFELD CONTINUES TO ADD
Aaron Bienenfeld joined the program in January and has raced four times with three of his time ranking among the program's all-time Top 10. More interestingly is the fact that those three times have come in three different events as he currently ranks #9 in the mile (4:10.82), #7 in the 3,000m run (8:23.99) and #3 in the 5,000m (14:29.23) with the longest race being run last week in Nashville. He is now just the second Bearcats to be listed on all three lists with only former All-American standout Eric Finan joining him as the #2, #1 and #1, respectively, in the three races.
// WOMEN'S DISTANCE HITTING THE BRICKS
The women's distance squad had runners in three different events post times that moved them up the all-time Top 10 charts in program history over the weekend. Senior Alexis Anton ran 2:13.38 to lower her personal best and claim the #6 position on the 800m chart. Two rookies were back at it once again this week as well. Hannah Markel (redshirt freshman) continued her back-and-forth PR lowering with true freshman Sam Mikula in the mile as Markel ran 5:02.29 to move past Mikula one week after Mikula ran 5:03.26 to overtake Markel. With Markel's time in Nashville, she is the fourth Bearcats woman to run under 5:03 in the event. Mikula took her turn on the track and raced the 3,000m event where she ran 10:01.07 to post the #7 time in UC history. The two rookies are now both on the mile and the 3,000m charts with Markel ranked #4 and #3, respectively, while Mikula is #6 and #7, respectively.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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).
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats return to the road next week as they are set to travel to Tucson, Ariz., for the Jim Click Shootout. The meet, which will be held at Roy P. Drachman Stadium on the University of Arizona campus, will take place Saturday, April 7, and feature competitors from the Pac-12 (Arizona), Big Ten (Illinois and Ohio State), Big 12 (Kansas State), SEC (Auburn) and the American (UC). The meet gets underway at 9 a.m. PT (noon ET) with the hammer (women) while running events are slated to start at 12:30 p.m. PT (3:30 pm ET).
The University of Cincinnati track and field program is set to compete for the first time in three weeks as the Bearcats will play host to the 14th Oliver Nikoloff Open this weekend with action taking place both Friday and Saturday on campus. The meet opens Friday with the women's hammer competition at Coy Field starting at 12:30 p.m. with the lone track event the day, the 10,000m run, starting at 5 p.m. at Gettler Stadium. On Saturday, the women's javelin, women's pole vault and mens discus will lead things off at 10 a.m. while the men's 3,000m steeplechase will be the first event on the track starting at noon.
// FIRST OF TWO
The Nikoloff event will be the first of two meets hosted at Gettler Stadium and Coy Field this year with the 2018 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships set to be held at the venues May 11-13. The meet will be the first conference track & field event UC has hosted since welcoming the BIG EAST to campus for the 2008 event. The track & field event also will be the second AAC event UC has played host to after hosting the 2016 cross country championships at Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester.
// SENIOR SENDOFF
Starting at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, the UC program will honor 29 seniors for their contributions during their time in Clifton. Those 29 individuals include: Sergio Acera, Alexis Anton, Aliya Barnes, Alex Bloom, Jimmy Brooks, Spencer Clark, Seamus Collins, Madison Dunlap, Khalid Fuller, Deanna Gesicki, Alexis Gray, Ryan Greene, Dan Huben, Maggie Loeffler, Kellsa Mbah, Jaashir Morris, Branden Nosker, Grace O'Donnell, Juliana Puopolo, Bryana Robinson, Sylvana Ross, Adrian Valles, Tessa Ward, Meg Westerheide, Ashley Williams, Kelvin Williams, Halen Witcher, Ben Wollenslegel and Mike Wood.
// OLIVER NIKOLOFF
This weekend's meet is named for former Bearcats coach Oliver M. Nikoloff, whom dedicated 42 years of service to UC as both a teacher and coach, including the track & field, tennis and soccer programs. Joining UC in 1917 and plying his trade through the 1959 academic year, much of the program's record book was filled with his athletes' names. A 1912 graduate of Oberlin College, Nikoloff was a standout athlete, excelling in both basketball and tennis. Coach Nikoloff passed away in 1964.
// ON THE GUEST LIST
The Bearcats will welcome representatives from 20 other schools to campus this week, including many of the local teams from the region. Along with the Bearcats and Coach Nikoloff's alma mater, Oberlin, the other teams set to compete include Ball State, Bowling Green, Butler, Cleveland State, Dayton, Eastern Kentucky, Ft. Wayne, Hillsdale, Indiana (Pa.), IUPUI, Kent State, Marian (Ind.), Miami (Ohio), Northern Kentucky, Ohio, Wayne State, Wright State, Xavier and York.
// GET THE RESULTS
FinishTiming.com will be on hand to provide live result updates throughout the meet (CLICK HERE).
// 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
• The last time out, the women placed 12th in the nation at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the best finish in program history and UC's first Top 15 finish
• Echikunwoke and Blaut both finished as the national runners-up in their events at NCAAs
• Four Bearcats competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships with all four earning USTFCCCA All-America recognition, including Blaut, Echikunwoke and Valles (1st team) and Bloom (2nd team)
• Valles tied Al Lanier for the most All-America accolades in program history with six
• Blaut and Echikunwoke now each have 4 career All-America accolades, tying Erika Hurd for the most in women's program history
• For the second time in his career, Valles earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award, given to each athlete with the highest GPA at each of the NCAA's 90 national events each year
// RUNNERS-UP
At the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 9-10) in College Station, Texas, both UC women that competed finished as the national runners-up in their respective events with Loretta Blaut placing second in the high jump and Annette Echikunwoke second in the weight throw. Outside of Echikunwoke's national crown won last year in the same event, the silver medal finishes mark the second-highest finishes in program history as each woman scored eight points each.
// SO CLOSE
Not only did both women finish second nationally, both did so by very slim margins. For Blaut, she tied for the national title with Nicole Green (North Carolina) before both women took part in a seven-attempt jump-off to determine the national champion. After six rounds, Blaut was unable to clear the bar and Green did to secure the title. The next day, Echikunwoke had a best throw of 23.29m heading into the final round of throws before Kaitlyn Long (Minnesota) threw 23.30m to edge Echikunwoke for the title by 1cm.
// HIGH FINISH
Despite both women finishing second in their events, each earned eight team points to give the Bearcats 16 for the meet. The point total and team finish of 12th nationally both are the highest achieved in the history of the women's program, surpassing the 10 points and tied for 21st-place finish UC recorded one year ago.
// VAULTING VALLES
For the seventh NCAA track & field meet in a row, Adrian Valles was part of the competition and, for the sixth time, he cleared several bars to place in the Top 8 and earn USTFCCCA All-America First Team accolades. The two-time IAAF World Championships competitor for Spain and seven-time AAC pole vault champion, Valles cleared 5.55m (18-02.50) to tie for fifth place overall and earn 3.5 team points, which would end up tying the Bearcats men for 52nd place. Valles is now a four-time All-American indoors and will look for his seventh career accolade later this year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
// ELITE AGAIN
Prior to the meet, Valles was honored for the second year in a row as the recipient of the NCAA Elite 90 Award. The honor is given to the student-athlete at each of the NCAA's 90 championship sites (all three divisions throughout the year) that holds the highest GPA of all entrants at the location. Valles first earned the accolade last year and was the first member of the Bearcats program to receive the honor in any sport in the history of UC Athletics.
// BLOOMING
In his final indoor collegiate season, Alex Bloom made the most of it as he qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time as the 16th-ranked man in the heptathlon. Following the two-day, seven-event competition, Bloom battled to a score of 5,618 points and a 12th-place showing, moving up four spots from his initial ranking. Not only did he compete in the national meet for the first time in his career, he also earned his first career USTFCCCA All-America honor, earning a second team accolades for his Top 16 finish. To add to his historic competition, Bloom also is the only UC man to compete in the indoor combined events and is just the second UC man to earn All-America honors in the combined events after his current coach Chris Wineberg took eighth place in the outdoor decathlon in 2004.
// ALL-TIME ALL-AMERICANS - MEN
Valles recently earned his fourth indoor All-America honor, bringing his career total to six and tying him with Al Lanier for the most All-America honors earned in a career for the UC track & field program. Lanier earned four in the long jump and two in the triple jump between 1972 and 1973 (indoor and outdoor) to hold the most accolades in program history until Valles' tie for fifth-place earlier this month gave him his sixth honor to Lanier. Valles will have one more chance to add to his All-America total during the outdoor season and, should he place in the Top 16 at the national meet in Eugene, Ore., he will take over the all-time record at UC.
// ALL-TIME ALL-AMERICANS - WOMEN
With their honors earned at the NCAA Indoor Championships, both Blaut and Echikunwoke tied for the program record for the most All-America honors earned by a UC woman, joining Erika Hurd (2015-16) as the record holders with four each. Echikunwoke leads all women with four selections to the first team while Blaut is second with three first-team honors and one second-team accolade. Hurd, who competed in the high jump, earned first team and second team honors twice each.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// BIG AWARDS
In recent weeks, Annette Echikunwoke has seen her name called for prestigious honors. First, she was added to The Bowerman Watch List, becoming the first members of the Bearcats program (man or woman) to be selected for the elite list that will be used to select the top collegiate athlete of the year. Then, that was followed up with the announcement she had been selected as the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Female Field Athlete of the Year. She is now eligible for the national athlete of the year honor for indoors.
// MAKING HER-STORY
Prior to the NCAA Championships, the Bearcats women traveled to Birmingham, Ala., and returned home to Cincinnati with the American Athletic Conference crown, the women's program's first indoor conference title. The two-time defending outdoor champions scored an AAC-record 147 points to easily win their crown after falling two points shy one year ago, falling to UCF, 122-120.
// TELL'EM LARGE MARGIN SENT YA!
The women won their title by a 62-point margin, the largest in the history of the American Athletic Conference. The previous largest margin came in 2016 when UC was the runner-up by 24.5 points.
// GRABBING GOLD
At the AAC Championships, the Bearcats collected nine conference titles with the women winning seven and the men two. For the women, champions included Bryana Robinson (400m), Irati Mitxelena (triple jump), Loretta Blaut (high jump), Brooke Catherine (pole vault), Annette Echikunwoke (shot put and weight throw) and Naomi Urbano (pentathlon). The men's champions included Alex Bloom (high jump) and Adrian Valles (pole vault).
// UNDEFEATED
With his win at the AAC Championships, Valles became the first athlete in the five-year history of the conference to win the same event four times in a career. Valles, who also has won each of the last three pole vault titles outdoors, is undefeated in competitions against AAC foes, winning all seven league meets he has entered in his Bearcats career.
// SWEEP IT UP
Three different sweeps were recorded by the Bearcats at the AAC Championships:
• The Bearcats won both high jump events as Bloom won his first indoor crown with a clearance of 2.11m while Blaut successfully defended her title with a meet-record clearance of 1.87m
• Valles won his fourth-consecutive pole vault title with a best of 5.50m while Brooke Catherine won her first conference title by taking the women's title with a winning clearance of 4.09m
• Echikunwoke did her own sweeping as she won the shot put with a meet-record toss of 16.50m after winning her third weight throw title in as many years with a toss of 22.15m
// KEEPER OF THE CROWN
With Blaut's win in the high jump, the victory was not only her second in as many years at the AAC meet, but also kept the title in Cincinnati, the only home the women's high jump crown has known in the five years of the AAC. In the first three years, former All-American Erika Hurd won all three titles, giving UC the victory in five-consecutive meets.
// BIG POINTS
Not only did the Bearcats have seven champions, they also scored huge points in a pair of events to distance themselves from the rest of the field as the 400m runners and shot put throwers combined for 46 points - more than six different teams scored in the entire meet. In the 400m, the Bearcats finished 1-2-4-5 as Robinson (10 points) won the event in 53.37 with Tiona Lattimore (8) close behind in 54.21. Haisha Bisiolu (5) took fourth place with a time of 54.76 while Deanna Gesicki (4), who was ranked 10th ahead of the meet, placed fifth in 56.53. In the shot put, it was another 1-2 punch for the Bearcats as Echikunwoke (10) was victorious and Ashley Williams (8) took second with a best of 15.82m (51-11.00), the #3 mark in program history. Leah Heckaman (1) added to the total by placing eighth with a toss of 14.91m (48-11.00).
// FIRE 400
The members of the women's 4x400m relay brought the heat in Nashville as the each turned in superb times in the open 400m before laying down a school-record 3:36.96 in the relay at the end of the meet. In the open, Bryana Robinson led the way running 53.31, just off her season-best and UC record 53.08, while Tiona Lattimore was just behind her in 53.75, the #3 time in program history. Haisha Bisiolu ran 54.46 to post the #4 time in Bearcats history with Deanna Gesicki running 56.28 to post the #10 time in program history, meaning all four women are now in the Top 10 for the first time. Later in the meet, the four came together and ran 3:36.96, breaking their own school record by 3.17 seconds as they ran splits of 53.7 (Lattimore), 54.5 (Bisiolu), 55.5 (Gesicki) and 52.9 (Robinson). Through the weekend, the relay is the leader in the American while the individual runners rank #1 (Robinson), #2 (Lattimore), #4 (Bisiolu) and #9 (Gesicki) in the open 400m race. If they were to finish this way at the conference meet, that would be a huge 33 points for the women's team.
// MORE ON THE RELAY
Last year, the relay team made history as the first Bearcats relay to not only make the national meet, but also earned All-America honors (second team). Their record run this past weekend added to their historical accounts as they posted the #4 time ever at UC when combining indoor and outdoor marks, giving them the Top 4 marks all-time. When removing their three marks run last year during the outdoor season that broke the record each time, the team's indoor mark run last weekend is faster than any other relay team UC has ever assembled.
// BIENENFELD CONTINUES TO ADD
Aaron Bienenfeld joined the program in January and has raced four times with three of his time ranking among the program's all-time Top 10. More interestingly is the fact that those three times have come in three different events as he currently ranks #9 in the mile (4:10.82), #7 in the 3,000m run (8:23.99) and #3 in the 5,000m (14:29.23) with the longest race being run last week in Nashville. He is now just the second Bearcats to be listed on all three lists with only former All-American standout Eric Finan joining him as the #2, #1 and #1, respectively, in the three races.
// WOMEN'S DISTANCE HITTING THE BRICKS
The women's distance squad had runners in three different events post times that moved them up the all-time Top 10 charts in program history over the weekend. Senior Alexis Anton ran 2:13.38 to lower her personal best and claim the #6 position on the 800m chart. Two rookies were back at it once again this week as well. Hannah Markel (redshirt freshman) continued her back-and-forth PR lowering with true freshman Sam Mikula in the mile as Markel ran 5:02.29 to move past Mikula one week after Mikula ran 5:03.26 to overtake Markel. With Markel's time in Nashville, she is the fourth Bearcats woman to run under 5:03 in the event. Mikula took her turn on the track and raced the 3,000m event where she ran 10:01.07 to post the #7 time in UC history. The two rookies are now both on the mile and the 3,000m charts with Markel ranked #4 and #3, respectively, while Mikula is #6 and #7, respectively.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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).
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats return to the road next week as they are set to travel to Tucson, Ariz., for the Jim Click Shootout. The meet, which will be held at Roy P. Drachman Stadium on the University of Arizona campus, will take place Saturday, April 7, and feature competitors from the Pac-12 (Arizona), Big Ten (Illinois and Ohio State), Big 12 (Kansas State), SEC (Auburn) and the American (UC). The meet gets underway at 9 a.m. PT (noon ET) with the hammer (women) while running events are slated to start at 12:30 p.m. PT (3:30 pm ET).