Tickets// ON THE STARTING LINE
Four members of the University of Cincinnati track and field program are set to compete in the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this week as the Bearcats will send women's athletes Loretta Blaut and Annette Echikunwoke and men's competitors Alex Bloom and Adrian Valles to the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas, this Friday and Saturday. The meet, hosted by Texas A&M, will be used to determine national champions and All-Americans and will be the final indoor event of the collegiate season.
// IN THE MEET - WOMEN
The Bearcats will be represented by two individual competitors with Loretta Blaut set to compete in the high jump and Annette Echikunwoke taking part in the weight throw. Both women have competed in previous NCAA indoor meets with Echikunwoke finishing eighth in 2016 before winning last year's national title, the first in program history, while Blaut last jumped in the 2016 meet where she finished ninth overall. Each woman also has competed in the past two NCAA outdoor meets as well.
// IN THE MEET - MEN
Similar to the women, the men have a pair of entrants into the meet this week with Alex Bloom making his debut in the heptathlon and Adrian Valles back for the fourth year in a row. Bloom made his first national meet as the 16th and final qualifier for the heptathlon while Valles will look to close out his indoor college career with his fourth All-America honor after placing sixth, fifth and fifth in the past three years. Valles also has competed at the last three NCAA outdoor meets, including last years event where he finished as the national runner-up.
// ABOUT THE MEET
The NCAA Championships will be used to determine many things, most importantly national titles. Team champions will be crowned in the men's and women's standings with individual and relay crowns being earned by student-athletes as well. The Top 8 finishers in each event will earn points toward their respective team's scores while also being named USTFCCCA All-America First Team. Those individuals and relays placing ninth through 16th will not score team points, but will earn USTFCCCA All-America Second Team accolades.
// GET THE RESULTS
FlashResults.com will have live results throughout the meet while host institution Texas A&M will stream live coverage both days on its web site (12thMan.com).
// 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. For the conference meet, be sure to follow @NCAATrackField and use the hashtag #ncaaTF.
// QUICK STARTS
• Annette Echikunwoke has been honored in recent weeks by being named to The Bowerman Watch List and as the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Female Field Athlete of the Year
• Echikunwoke returns to the ring in College Station as the top-ranked weight thrower and will look to defend her national title she won at Texas A&M one year ago
• All four Bearcats set to compete this week at the NCAA meet won individual titles at the AAC Championships two weeks ago, including Echikunwoke, who swept the weight and shot put
• If Adrian Valles earns All-America honors this week, he will tie Al Lanier for the honor of being the most decorated member of the program (men and women) with six career honors
• Loretta Blaut is entering her fourth NCAA meet and second indoor meet after last competing at the indoor championships in 2016 (ninth place)
• While Valles (7), Echikunwoke (5) and Blaut (4) have combined for 16 NCAA appearances, senior Alex Bloom will be making his national meet debut this weekend in the heptathlon
• UC nearly had two more women in the field, including Brooke Catherine, who was 18th in the pole vault, and Bryana Robinson, who was 24th in the 400m (only the Top 16 make the field)
• The last time UC took the track, the women won their first indoor conference title, securing the AAC Championship with 147 points to add to their 2016 and 2017 outdoor crowns
• The UC women not only scored the most points in an AAC meet, but also won by a record margin 62 points to claim the crown
• Blaut (women) and Valles (men) were named the AAC Most Outstanding Performers of the Meet for field events following their AAC victories
• Blaut (outdoor) and Valles (indoor) were named the AAC Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the 2017-18 season with Valles earning the overall men's honor as well
// 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.
// BACK AGAIN
Three of the Bearcats set to compete this week are making return trips to the NCAA meet with Adrian Valles appearing in his fourth-consecutive indoor championships and his seventh overall (including outdoors) for the men. On the women's side, Annette Echikunwoke is making her third appearance at the indoor meet while Loretta Blaut is entered for the second time and her first since the 2016 meet. Overall, the two women are making their fifth and fourth national appearances, respectively.
// RETURNING TO THE SCENE
This time last year, Echikunwoke traveled to College Station, Texas, for the NCAA Championships and left with the first national title in program history. Earlier this year, she competed in the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M and won both the weight throw and shot put titles. Entering the meet as the top-ranked competitor in the weight throw this week with a mark of 24.78m (81-03.75), Echikunwoke will look to make more history as she tries to not only repeat as the national champion, but become the first two-time victor in UC athletics history as the previous four national champion Bearcats won just one title each.
// FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
While Blaut, Echikunwoke and Valles are making return trips to the national meet, Alex Bloom is making his debut as the senior was the 16th and final qualifier into the heptathlon. He is the first Bearcats athlete to qualify for the men's indoor combined events and the first UC athlete to reach the national indoor meet in the combined events since Jasmine Cotten competed in the pentathlon for the women at the 2012 meet. In fact, in the history of the program, Bloom is now the fifth UC man to qualify to the NCAA Championships in the combined events and the first since 2005 when both Ben Haber and Jimmy Mount competed in the outdoor decathlon.
// ALMOST MORE
While Bloom is making his debut, two women nearly joined him as debutantes, but just missed out. Brooke Catherine cleared a school-record 4.26m in the pole vault and finished the indoor season ranked #18 nationally, just two spots off the final qualifying spot. Also for the women, Bryana Robinson, who ran the fastest time in the nation in the 500m run earlier this year (a non-NCAA event), ranked #24 in the 400m dash.
// GOING FOR MORE
Heading into the meet this week, Valles has accumulated five All-America honors in his six NCAA appearances, which leaves him one honor shy of tying for the most in program history. Al Lanier leads the way for the Bearcats program as he collected six All-America honors in the long jump and triple jump in 1972 and 1973. Should Valles earn All-America honors this week, he will tie Lanier for the all-time record and could break the mark outdoors later this year.
// MAKING HER-STORY
Two weeks ago, 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).
// ATHLETE NOTES: ECHIKUNWOKE
Annette Echikunwoke had yet another outstanding meet as she not only dominated the weight throw at the Buckeye Tune-Up (2/16), but did so with a huge mark of 24.78m (81-03.75), a mark that ranks her highly among the all-time best.
• NCAA: with her toss, Echikunwoke now ranks #2 all-time in NCAA history with only Brittany Riley (Southern Illinois) ahead of her with a collegiate-record toss of 25.56m (2007). Echikunwoke's mark also stands as the #4 performance in NCAA history with Riley holding the Top 3.
• World: Echikunwoke, who entered the season ranked #16 on the all-time World Top 20, moved up to a tie for #3 with her throw.
• DYK #1: Echikunwoke's mark was the best in the nation last weekend and was further than any mark recorded at the USATF National Indoor Championships. In the NCAA, she had the #1, #2, #3 and #6 marks of the week last week in her series of six throws at Ohio State.
• DYK #2: Since her first collegiate meet in 2015 where she threw 17.28m (56-08.50), Echikunwoke has improved her PR by 24' 5.25".
Following the record throw and for the first time in program history, a member of the program was honored with a weekly award from the USTFCCCA as Echikunwoke was selected the NCAA Division I Women's National Athlete of the Week following her performance in Columbus. Echikunwoke also was named the AAC Female Field Athlete of the Week for the third time this season.
// ATHLETE NOTES: VALLES
Valles has competed in the pole vault six times during the indoor season and won four titles, including his fourth-consecutive AAC Championship crown two weeks ago. He has cleared 18' twice this year, first clearing 5.61m (18-04.75) to win the Notre Dame Invitational (1/20) before clearing 5.50m (18-00.50) to win the conference meet. The 5.61m mark broke his own school record of 5.60m and placed him in the Top 4 nationally as one of only six men to clear 5.60m or better this season. In his latest visit to College Station, Texas, he cleared 5.37m (17-07.25) to win the Charlie Thomas Invitational.
// ATHLETE NOTES: BLAUT
Blaut enters the NCAA Championships undefeated on the season as she has won all seven meets she has entered, including the AAC Championships for the second year in a row. She recorded a season-best clearance in the high jump in four-consecutive meets earlier in the year and cleared 1.81m or better in each of her last five meets. At the conference meet, she cleared 1.87m (6-01.50) to tie the school record while also breaking the meet record. It was her second meet record performance of the year after she cleared 1.84m (6-00.50) to win the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M with a meet record performance.
// ATHLETE NOTES: BLOOM
Bloom had another successful heptathlon competition in Texas, this time scoring a personal-best 5,649 points in the two-day, seven-event competition at the Charlie Thomas Invitational to not only better his previous best by 45 points, but also take down the school record by 33 points. The previous record was 5,616 points that Chris Wineberg, Bloom's current coach, scored 14 years ago in 2004. To get to his record point total, Bloom posted personal-best marks in four of the seven events, opening the competition with a UC heptathlon record time of 7.03 in the 60m dash. He also moved to #3 on the program's heptathlon shot put chart with a heave of 12.78m (41-11.25) on the first day of competition. On the final day, he posted PRs in the final two events of the day, first in the pole vault as he cleared 4.55m (14-11.00). Needing 771 points in the 1,000m run, Bloom scored 803 points as he ran a best of 2:46.50 to not only post the #4 heptathlon 1,000m time in program history, but also break Wineberg's overall scoring record.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// 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
With the indoor season concluded, the Bearcats will turn their attention toward the outdoor campaign with the first meet of the schedule coming March 30-31 with UC playing host to the Oliver Nikoloff Open. The meet will be held at Gettler Stadium on the UC campus.
Four members of the University of Cincinnati track and field program are set to compete in the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this week as the Bearcats will send women's athletes Loretta Blaut and Annette Echikunwoke and men's competitors Alex Bloom and Adrian Valles to the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas, this Friday and Saturday. The meet, hosted by Texas A&M, will be used to determine national champions and All-Americans and will be the final indoor event of the collegiate season.
// IN THE MEET - WOMEN
The Bearcats will be represented by two individual competitors with Loretta Blaut set to compete in the high jump and Annette Echikunwoke taking part in the weight throw. Both women have competed in previous NCAA indoor meets with Echikunwoke finishing eighth in 2016 before winning last year's national title, the first in program history, while Blaut last jumped in the 2016 meet where she finished ninth overall. Each woman also has competed in the past two NCAA outdoor meets as well.
// IN THE MEET - MEN
Similar to the women, the men have a pair of entrants into the meet this week with Alex Bloom making his debut in the heptathlon and Adrian Valles back for the fourth year in a row. Bloom made his first national meet as the 16th and final qualifier for the heptathlon while Valles will look to close out his indoor college career with his fourth All-America honor after placing sixth, fifth and fifth in the past three years. Valles also has competed at the last three NCAA outdoor meets, including last years event where he finished as the national runner-up.
// ABOUT THE MEET
The NCAA Championships will be used to determine many things, most importantly national titles. Team champions will be crowned in the men's and women's standings with individual and relay crowns being earned by student-athletes as well. The Top 8 finishers in each event will earn points toward their respective team's scores while also being named USTFCCCA All-America First Team. Those individuals and relays placing ninth through 16th will not score team points, but will earn USTFCCCA All-America Second Team accolades.
// GET THE RESULTS
FlashResults.com will have live results throughout the meet while host institution Texas A&M will stream live coverage both days on its web site (12thMan.com).
// 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. For the conference meet, be sure to follow @NCAATrackField and use the hashtag #ncaaTF.
// QUICK STARTS
• Annette Echikunwoke has been honored in recent weeks by being named to The Bowerman Watch List and as the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Female Field Athlete of the Year
• Echikunwoke returns to the ring in College Station as the top-ranked weight thrower and will look to defend her national title she won at Texas A&M one year ago
• All four Bearcats set to compete this week at the NCAA meet won individual titles at the AAC Championships two weeks ago, including Echikunwoke, who swept the weight and shot put
• If Adrian Valles earns All-America honors this week, he will tie Al Lanier for the honor of being the most decorated member of the program (men and women) with six career honors
• Loretta Blaut is entering her fourth NCAA meet and second indoor meet after last competing at the indoor championships in 2016 (ninth place)
• While Valles (7), Echikunwoke (5) and Blaut (4) have combined for 16 NCAA appearances, senior Alex Bloom will be making his national meet debut this weekend in the heptathlon
• UC nearly had two more women in the field, including Brooke Catherine, who was 18th in the pole vault, and Bryana Robinson, who was 24th in the 400m (only the Top 16 make the field)
• The last time UC took the track, the women won their first indoor conference title, securing the AAC Championship with 147 points to add to their 2016 and 2017 outdoor crowns
• The UC women not only scored the most points in an AAC meet, but also won by a record margin 62 points to claim the crown
• Blaut (women) and Valles (men) were named the AAC Most Outstanding Performers of the Meet for field events following their AAC victories
• Blaut (outdoor) and Valles (indoor) were named the AAC Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the 2017-18 season with Valles earning the overall men's honor as well
// 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.
// BACK AGAIN
Three of the Bearcats set to compete this week are making return trips to the NCAA meet with Adrian Valles appearing in his fourth-consecutive indoor championships and his seventh overall (including outdoors) for the men. On the women's side, Annette Echikunwoke is making her third appearance at the indoor meet while Loretta Blaut is entered for the second time and her first since the 2016 meet. Overall, the two women are making their fifth and fourth national appearances, respectively.
// RETURNING TO THE SCENE
This time last year, Echikunwoke traveled to College Station, Texas, for the NCAA Championships and left with the first national title in program history. Earlier this year, she competed in the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M and won both the weight throw and shot put titles. Entering the meet as the top-ranked competitor in the weight throw this week with a mark of 24.78m (81-03.75), Echikunwoke will look to make more history as she tries to not only repeat as the national champion, but become the first two-time victor in UC athletics history as the previous four national champion Bearcats won just one title each.
// FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
While Blaut, Echikunwoke and Valles are making return trips to the national meet, Alex Bloom is making his debut as the senior was the 16th and final qualifier into the heptathlon. He is the first Bearcats athlete to qualify for the men's indoor combined events and the first UC athlete to reach the national indoor meet in the combined events since Jasmine Cotten competed in the pentathlon for the women at the 2012 meet. In fact, in the history of the program, Bloom is now the fifth UC man to qualify to the NCAA Championships in the combined events and the first since 2005 when both Ben Haber and Jimmy Mount competed in the outdoor decathlon.
// ALMOST MORE
While Bloom is making his debut, two women nearly joined him as debutantes, but just missed out. Brooke Catherine cleared a school-record 4.26m in the pole vault and finished the indoor season ranked #18 nationally, just two spots off the final qualifying spot. Also for the women, Bryana Robinson, who ran the fastest time in the nation in the 500m run earlier this year (a non-NCAA event), ranked #24 in the 400m dash.
// GOING FOR MORE
Heading into the meet this week, Valles has accumulated five All-America honors in his six NCAA appearances, which leaves him one honor shy of tying for the most in program history. Al Lanier leads the way for the Bearcats program as he collected six All-America honors in the long jump and triple jump in 1972 and 1973. Should Valles earn All-America honors this week, he will tie Lanier for the all-time record and could break the mark outdoors later this year.
// MAKING HER-STORY
Two weeks ago, 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).
// ATHLETE NOTES: ECHIKUNWOKE
Annette Echikunwoke had yet another outstanding meet as she not only dominated the weight throw at the Buckeye Tune-Up (2/16), but did so with a huge mark of 24.78m (81-03.75), a mark that ranks her highly among the all-time best.
• NCAA: with her toss, Echikunwoke now ranks #2 all-time in NCAA history with only Brittany Riley (Southern Illinois) ahead of her with a collegiate-record toss of 25.56m (2007). Echikunwoke's mark also stands as the #4 performance in NCAA history with Riley holding the Top 3.
• World: Echikunwoke, who entered the season ranked #16 on the all-time World Top 20, moved up to a tie for #3 with her throw.
• DYK #1: Echikunwoke's mark was the best in the nation last weekend and was further than any mark recorded at the USATF National Indoor Championships. In the NCAA, she had the #1, #2, #3 and #6 marks of the week last week in her series of six throws at Ohio State.
• DYK #2: Since her first collegiate meet in 2015 where she threw 17.28m (56-08.50), Echikunwoke has improved her PR by 24' 5.25".
Following the record throw and for the first time in program history, a member of the program was honored with a weekly award from the USTFCCCA as Echikunwoke was selected the NCAA Division I Women's National Athlete of the Week following her performance in Columbus. Echikunwoke also was named the AAC Female Field Athlete of the Week for the third time this season.
// ATHLETE NOTES: VALLES
Valles has competed in the pole vault six times during the indoor season and won four titles, including his fourth-consecutive AAC Championship crown two weeks ago. He has cleared 18' twice this year, first clearing 5.61m (18-04.75) to win the Notre Dame Invitational (1/20) before clearing 5.50m (18-00.50) to win the conference meet. The 5.61m mark broke his own school record of 5.60m and placed him in the Top 4 nationally as one of only six men to clear 5.60m or better this season. In his latest visit to College Station, Texas, he cleared 5.37m (17-07.25) to win the Charlie Thomas Invitational.
// ATHLETE NOTES: BLAUT
Blaut enters the NCAA Championships undefeated on the season as she has won all seven meets she has entered, including the AAC Championships for the second year in a row. She recorded a season-best clearance in the high jump in four-consecutive meets earlier in the year and cleared 1.81m or better in each of her last five meets. At the conference meet, she cleared 1.87m (6-01.50) to tie the school record while also breaking the meet record. It was her second meet record performance of the year after she cleared 1.84m (6-00.50) to win the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M with a meet record performance.
// ATHLETE NOTES: BLOOM
Bloom had another successful heptathlon competition in Texas, this time scoring a personal-best 5,649 points in the two-day, seven-event competition at the Charlie Thomas Invitational to not only better his previous best by 45 points, but also take down the school record by 33 points. The previous record was 5,616 points that Chris Wineberg, Bloom's current coach, scored 14 years ago in 2004. To get to his record point total, Bloom posted personal-best marks in four of the seven events, opening the competition with a UC heptathlon record time of 7.03 in the 60m dash. He also moved to #3 on the program's heptathlon shot put chart with a heave of 12.78m (41-11.25) on the first day of competition. On the final day, he posted PRs in the final two events of the day, first in the pole vault as he cleared 4.55m (14-11.00). Needing 771 points in the 1,000m run, Bloom scored 803 points as he ran a best of 2:46.50 to not only post the #4 heptathlon 1,000m time in program history, but also break Wineberg's overall scoring record.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// 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
With the indoor season concluded, the Bearcats will turn their attention toward the outdoor campaign with the first meet of the schedule coming March 30-31 with UC playing host to the Oliver Nikoloff Open. The meet will be held at Gettler Stadium on the UC campus.