Tickets// ON THE STARTING LINE
The final collegiate meet of the 2018 track & field season awaits this weekend in Eugene, Ore., with University of Cincinnati senior Loretta Blaut set to compete in the women's high jump on the final day of action in the national meet taking place at historic Hayward Field June 6-9. The competition will be aired on the ESPN family of networks all four days of the meet ESPN3 streaming many of the field events, including the women's high jump competition.
// IN THE MEET
Loretta Blaut will be the lone representative for the Bearcats in Eugene this week as the four-time American Athletic Conference champion tied for first place at the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet in the high jump, clearing 1.80m to advance to the national finals.
// SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
The NCAA Championships will be shown live on the ESPN family of networks, including airing on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. Live television broadcast windows will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPNU; Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2; Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN; and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. ESPN3 will also be providing dedicated streams of the field events, including the women's high jump final Saturday with Loretta Blaut in the field. To access a full broadcast schedule, including the link to the high jump competition, visit the NCAA page.
// INFORMATION CENTRAL
• Results: live results will be available at FlashResults.com
• Heat Sheets: are available on the NCAA web site
• Social: be sure to follow @GoBearcatsTFXC and @NCAATrackField for all the latest on the meet and use the hashtags #Bearcats and #ncaaTF to join the conversation
• Streaming: ESPN3 will have live feeds for all the field events throughout the week
// QUICK STARTS
• Blaut is set to compete in her fifth NCAA Championships meet and her third outdoor national competition in a row
• She ranks among the most accomplished women in program history, tying for the most national appearances overall, most outdoor appearances and most All-America honors (overall and outdoor awards only)
• Alex Bloom traveled to Dallas over the weekend and set a PR in the decathlon, his fourth of the year, as he scored 7,435 points at the Texas Greatest Athlete meet
// HOW SHE GOT HERE
Blaut is making her return to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after qualifying through the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet once again. At the meet in Tampa, Blaut took attempts at three different heights and cleared all three on her first attempts, including 1.80m (5-10.75), the final bar of the competition. She was one of three women in the East that had no misses in the competition and finished tied for first in the event, making them part of the 12 women that advanced to Eugene.
// SEASON RECAP: BLAUT
The 2018 outdoor season saw Blaut take part in seven high jump competitions with her winning five of those outright, including her second American Athletic Conference outdoor meet in a row. She started the year with a win at UC's Oliver Nikoloff Open with a best of 1.82m (5-11.50), a mark that broke the meet record as well. She went on to win the Jim Click Shootout at Arizona (1.80m) and the Tennessee Relays (1.81m) before taking second at Auburn's War Eagle Invitational (1.76m). From there, she got back to her winning ways as she first won the Kentucky Relays (1.80m) before putting together the best meet of her career at the conference meet in Cincinnati. In that meet, she cleared 1.88m (6-02.00) to not only win back-to-back outdoor AAC titles and her fourth AAC title in a row (including indoor), she broke several records, including the overall conference outdoor, conference overall (indoor and outdoor), conference meet, school and Gettler Stadium records. Following the conference meet, Blaut's winning mark, which was the top clearance in the nation that week according to the USTFCCCA Top 10 listings, earned her the AAC Female Field Performance of the Meet honor, her second of the year after also taking the honor at the indoor championships at the end of February.
// THE STAKES
The final meet of the season brings the biggest stakes as well. Not only will team, individual and relay national champions be crowned, but USTFCCCA All-America accolades will also be on the line. The Top 8 finishers in each event will be named USTFCCCA All-America First Team while those finishing ninth through 16th will be named USTFCCCA All-America Second Team.
// NATIONALS HISTORY
With her inclusion in the field this week, Blaut will be making her fifth national appearance and her third outdoor appearance in a row as well. Historically, Blaut is now tied with Jasmine Cotten and Annette Echikunwoke for the most national appearances (five) in UC women's program history while moving into a tie with Renee Hein, also a high jump specialist, for the most outdoor appearances (three) after Hein made the national outdoor field in 2005-07.
// CHASING HISTORY: ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Heading into the national meet, Blaut already ranks as one of the most decorated competitors in UC women's program history as she is tied for the most All-America honors earned (four) and the most outdoor All-America honors (two). Should she finish in the Top 16 at the meet this weekend, she break her current tie with Annette Echikunwoke (2016-present) and Erika Hurd (2015-16) for the top spot. An All-America accolade this weekend also would break her tie with Hurd and Kathy Klump (2011-12) for the most outdoor All-America honors earned in women's program history as all three women currently have two.
// THE LAST TIME: 2018 NCAA INDOOR
The last time Blaut competed in an NCAA event was the 2018 NCAA Indoor meet in College Station, Texas, where she was the national runner-up. In the competition, Blaut and Nicole Greene (North Carolina) put up identical marks as both cleared 1.76m and 1.81m on their first attempts before each needed second-attempt clearances at both 1.84m and 1.87m. After each missed three times at 1.90m, a jump-off was held to determine the champion and, after seven rounds, Greene would take the title. In the jump-off, each missed their attempts at 1.90m, 1.88m, 1.86m and 1.84m before both cleared at 1.82m to send the bar back to 1.84m where each missed once again. With the bar back at 1.82m, Blaut missed her attempt and Greene cleared to claim the title.
// THE LAST TIME: 2017 NCAA OUTDOOR
Last year, Blaut finished in a four-way tie for sixth place as she cleared a best of 1.82m (5-11.50) at the meet in Eugene to secure All-America honors once again. Blaut entered the meet at the opening height of 1.73m and cleared on her first attempt. She followed suit at the next two bars - 1.78m and 1.82m - before missing three times at 1.85m. She was actually tied with seven other women for sixth place, but misses at earlier heights by four other women pushed them down to 10th-12th places.
// ONE OF SIX
Blaut is one of six women that will compete in the high jump Saturday after competing at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year. Blaut, the national runner-up at the indoor meet in College Station, Texas, in March, is one of four USTFCCCA All-America First Team honorees that will be in the field this weekend, including fourth-place finisher Zarriea Willis (Texas Tech), fifth-place finisher Clarissa Cutliff (FIU) and seventh-place finisher Shelly Spires (Air Force). The other two women on the list include Lissa Labiche (South Carolina) and Andrea Stapleton (BYU), who placed 14th and 15th, respectively.
// ACADEMICALLY SOUND
For the third year in a row, Adrian Valles earned a place on the Google Drive CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 First Team list after the graduate student posted yet another solid year in the classroom to compliment his outstanding athletic accomplishments. The two-time NCAA Elite 90 Award winner (athlete with the highest GPA that competed at the 2017 & 2018 NCAA indoor meets), Valles is now eligible to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, which he has done each of the past two years, being named to the second team in 2016 and the first team last year.
// BLOOM WINS ANOTHER
Over the weekend, Alex Bloom competed in his fourth decathlon of the outdoor season and finished with a personal-best score of 7,435 points, a 34-point improvement and the #2 mark in UC history as he won the Texas Greatest Athlete event in Dallas. Bloom recorded two event PRs in the competition, including tying his own school decathlon record in the 100m dash as he ran 10.90 and posted the #8 time in decathlon 400m with a run of 50.39. Overall, he was 16 points shy of his Day One PR (4,103) and 17 away from this Day Two PR (3,350).
// RECRUIT CHECK-IN: CHAMPIONS
The past few weeks have seen many of the Bearcats' incoming recruits compete in their respective state championship meets with four of those newcomers capturing state titles:
• Izzy Kline (Newton Falls, Ohio/Newton Falls HS/Coach Seaton): captured the shot put crown in the Ohio Division II meet and did so simultaneously competing in the high jump, where she finished 10th.
• Quincy Mitchell (Hanahan, S.C./Hanahan HS/Coach Faustin-Parker): won his third career state title as he took gold in the 100m dash for the second year in a row. He nearly duplicated his double from last year as he took second overall in the 200m dash this year after winning the event one year ago.
• Maddie O'Dea (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy/Coach Crofford): twice the state runner-up over 800m, O'Dea moved up to the 1,600m run and captured her first state crown before earning her third career Top 8 finish in the 800m run at the Kentucky state meet.
• Malin Smith (Lansing, Mich./Waverly/Coach Seaton): not only won the state title in the discus, but threw 169-03 to set the state record for all divisions with her winning toss. She also took runner-up honors in the shot put.
// STRONG FINISHES
Several other future Bearcats also found success in their state meets:
• One of the biggest results to come out of the Ohio meet was in the women's 200m where Caisja Chandler (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid HS/Coach Faustin-Paker) ran a huge PR of 23.24, one of the fastest times in state history. The downside to her run was she finished second as the champion bettered her own state record with a run of 22.73 (was 23.17). Chandler also ran on the 4x200m relay and took third in the state.
• Two women from Nordonia HS (Macedonia, Ohio) combined to score big points for their team with both Faith Banks and Carmen Licht helping the 4x400m relay to a third-place showing. Banks (sprints, Coach Wineberg) also took second in the state in the 400m dash while Licht (mid-distance, Coach Crofford) ran a school-record 2:11.20 to finish 6th in the 800m run.
• Local product Leah Maschino (Maineville, Ohio/Kings HS/Coach Crofford) helped her team to a third-place finish in the 4x800m relay as the team ran a school-record time in the meet. She competed individually in the 1600m run as well.
• Out in California, Rylee Penn (Corona/Centennial HS/Coach Crofford), had a very impressive post season as she battled through an always tough state to finish 10th overall in the 800m. It was Penn's third-consecutive trip to the CIF Finals in the half-mile event.
• Austin Goolsby (Hillsboro, Ohio/Hillsboro HS/Coach Kranz) competed in the men's pole vault and finished second overall in the event in the Ohio Division II meet.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// CHAMPIONS
UC played host to the American Athletic Conference Championships (May 11-13) and saw four individual Bearcats win conference crowns with two each by the men and women. The first title came on the first night with Aaron Bienenfeld winning the men's 10,000m run. One day later, Brooke Catherine took gold in the women's pole vault while Alex Bloom rounded out his two-day decathlon victory to successfully defend his crown. Finally, on the last day, Loretta Blaut won the high jump to defend her crown and thrill the home crowd as the local product broke multiple records on her way to victory.
// BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS
With their wins, both Blaut and Catherine swept their respective events for 2018. For Blaut, the sweep is her second in as many years after she won the indoor and outdoor double one year ago before duplicating the feat once again this year. Catherine completed the sweep after winning first conference crown at the indoor championships earlier this season. Catherine is now just the second UC woman to sweep the indoor and outdoor pole vault titles in a season. She was joined in the scoring by Rachel Coghill (5th) and Allie Plybon (t-7th), giving the group 15.5 points scored this year, the most since the 2013 season that saw Michelle Eby (1st) and Emily Clay (3rd) score 16 points. It also marks the first time since 2011 that three Bearcats have scored in the pole vault in the same meet.
// BREAKING RECORDS - CINCINNATI
Six marks turned in at the AAC meet went down as school records with Alex Bloom recording three of those marks. Bloom broke his own record in both the decathlon Day One score (4,119 points) and decathlon long jump (7.42m) while adding the top mark for the decathlon 110m hurdles (14.93). Sam Meece was the only other man to record a UC record mark as he broke his own freshman record in the hammer with a best of 55.48m. On the women's side, Alexis Anton rewrote the mark for the 1,500m run (4:29.60) while Blaut's 1.88m clearance gives her not only the high jump record, but the UC all-time (indoor and outdoor combined) record.
// BREAKING RECORDS - CONFERENCE
Two of those school records also brought about changes to several other record books as both Blaut and Bloom rewrote the overall conference, meet and stadium records as well. With her clearance, Blaut is now the all-time record holder indoors and out in the AAC, holds both meet records and now has the Gettler Stadium record as well. Bloom is no stranger to conference records as his decathlon long jump and high jump marks are AAC meet records while also standing as the stadium records. For his career, Bloom now holds four combined-event meet records as those two join his indoor heptathlon 60m (7.00) and heptathlon high jump (2.16m) marks.
// BLAUT HONORED AGAIN
Blaut won the high jump for the second year in a row and the fourth-consecutive AAC meet after winning indoors earlier this year. With the win, which came with a school, conference, meet and venue record clearance of 1.88m (6-2.00) that also leads the NCAA this year, Blaut is now the only woman in UC history to win the event multiple times outdoors in a career and has the most titles (four) after sweeping for the second year in a row. Overall, the Bearcats have dominated the event as UC has won 8 of the 10 available titles since the AAC first held a conference championship meet in 2014. With her win and the marks she attained, Blaut was selected as the 2018 AAC Women's Field Most Outstanding Performance Award recipient, an honor she also win indoors this year.
// GERMAN ENGINEERING
Aaron Bienenfeld scored a huge 18 points for the men - the most of any UC athlete, man or woman, this year - as he won the 10,000m run and doubled back to take second in the 5,000m run. Bienenfeld is the first UC man to win the 10,000m event (at least since 1980) and is only the second man in UC history to go 1-2 in events at the same meet in the distance races. The first was Mark Rupe, who won the 5,000m run and took runner-up honors in the 10,000m in 1994.
// GETTING POINTS - SPRINTS
The women's team had two individuals score in the 200m as Lattimore was 6th and Bisiolu 7th, marking the first time in program history the Bearcats have had multiple point scorers in the event in the same conference meet. Similarly, in the 400m, three women scored, marking the first time that has happened in program history as UC went 3rd (Bisiolu), 4th (Lattimore) and 7th (Gesicki). It also marks the third year in a row that at least two Bearcats women have scored in the event at the AAC meet.
// DISTANCE DOUBLE
Alexis Anton made a bit of history for the mid-distance crew with her career runs in the 800m and 1,500m. In the half, she is the first UC woman since Kathy Klump in 2012 to score in the event after Klump was third in her senior race. Anton also broke the school record in the 1,500m run as the first UC woman to run under 4:31 in the event. Her huge run gives UC a point scorer in the metric mile in back-to-back years after having not scored in the event since 2005 and marks the first time since 2001-2002-2003 that UC has scored in the event in consecutive meets. Additionally, Anton is just the second UC woman to score in the double after Jocelyn Gibson finished eighth in both races in 2005. With the points Anton scored, the distance squad accounted for seven points this year which is not only the most it has scored as members of the AAC, but also is more than all the points previously scored in the AAC after UC tallied five last year and one in 2015 (six total). It also is the most points the group has scored since 2008 when Lilian Jelimo (3rd) and Jill Glassmeyer (7th) combined to score eight points in the 10,000m run.
// NOT MEECING AN OPPORTUNITY
Sam Meece scored in three throwing events for the men, putting the freshman in elite company in UC history. After placing eighth in the shot put, eighth in the discus and seventh in the hammer, he became the first UC man in 21 years (1997) to accomplish the feat with Scott Keane (8th/7th/4th) and Tim Berwanger (6th/5th/7th) both doing so that year. Overall, Meece is the fifth UC man to accomplish the triple score and added the seventh instance.
// GOING OUT ON TOP
Alex Bloom successfully defended his decathlon title, making him just the third UC man (since 1980) to win multiple decathlon titles in a career, joining his coach, Chris Wineberg (2002 & 2004) and David Yimsumruay (1996 & 1997) as the only two-time champions. In fact, Bloom joins Yimsumruay as the only men to win their decathlon titles in back-to-back years.
// 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 finished his career tied with Lanier as an injury kept the senior out of the majority of the outdoor season and preventing him from competing in the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet in order to qualify to Eugene.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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 was 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.
// 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). Themen 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.). Bienenfeld later became a mid-year transfer and joined the program in January 2018 to comepte this past season.
// 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 NCAA Championships caps the collegiate season for 2018. Several Bearcats, both on the current roster and former competitors, will suit up for competitions later this summer, including the USA Championships among other events.
The final collegiate meet of the 2018 track & field season awaits this weekend in Eugene, Ore., with University of Cincinnati senior Loretta Blaut set to compete in the women's high jump on the final day of action in the national meet taking place at historic Hayward Field June 6-9. The competition will be aired on the ESPN family of networks all four days of the meet ESPN3 streaming many of the field events, including the women's high jump competition.
// IN THE MEET
Loretta Blaut will be the lone representative for the Bearcats in Eugene this week as the four-time American Athletic Conference champion tied for first place at the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet in the high jump, clearing 1.80m to advance to the national finals.
// SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
The NCAA Championships will be shown live on the ESPN family of networks, including airing on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. Live television broadcast windows will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPNU; Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2; Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN; and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. ESPN3 will also be providing dedicated streams of the field events, including the women's high jump final Saturday with Loretta Blaut in the field. To access a full broadcast schedule, including the link to the high jump competition, visit the NCAA page.
// INFORMATION CENTRAL
• Results: live results will be available at FlashResults.com
• Heat Sheets: are available on the NCAA web site
• Social: be sure to follow @GoBearcatsTFXC and @NCAATrackField for all the latest on the meet and use the hashtags #Bearcats and #ncaaTF to join the conversation
• Streaming: ESPN3 will have live feeds for all the field events throughout the week
// QUICK STARTS
• Blaut is set to compete in her fifth NCAA Championships meet and her third outdoor national competition in a row
• She ranks among the most accomplished women in program history, tying for the most national appearances overall, most outdoor appearances and most All-America honors (overall and outdoor awards only)
• Alex Bloom traveled to Dallas over the weekend and set a PR in the decathlon, his fourth of the year, as he scored 7,435 points at the Texas Greatest Athlete meet
// HOW SHE GOT HERE
Blaut is making her return to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after qualifying through the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet once again. At the meet in Tampa, Blaut took attempts at three different heights and cleared all three on her first attempts, including 1.80m (5-10.75), the final bar of the competition. She was one of three women in the East that had no misses in the competition and finished tied for first in the event, making them part of the 12 women that advanced to Eugene.
// SEASON RECAP: BLAUT
The 2018 outdoor season saw Blaut take part in seven high jump competitions with her winning five of those outright, including her second American Athletic Conference outdoor meet in a row. She started the year with a win at UC's Oliver Nikoloff Open with a best of 1.82m (5-11.50), a mark that broke the meet record as well. She went on to win the Jim Click Shootout at Arizona (1.80m) and the Tennessee Relays (1.81m) before taking second at Auburn's War Eagle Invitational (1.76m). From there, she got back to her winning ways as she first won the Kentucky Relays (1.80m) before putting together the best meet of her career at the conference meet in Cincinnati. In that meet, she cleared 1.88m (6-02.00) to not only win back-to-back outdoor AAC titles and her fourth AAC title in a row (including indoor), she broke several records, including the overall conference outdoor, conference overall (indoor and outdoor), conference meet, school and Gettler Stadium records. Following the conference meet, Blaut's winning mark, which was the top clearance in the nation that week according to the USTFCCCA Top 10 listings, earned her the AAC Female Field Performance of the Meet honor, her second of the year after also taking the honor at the indoor championships at the end of February.
Before she heads to the #ncaaTF Championships next week, hear from @L_Blaut34 @CoachWinebergUC, who sat down with @Popo_WCPOSports to talk about the high jump and all the success the local product has enjoyed in her #Bearcats career:https://t.co/Xk20NECPNg
— Cincinnati TF & XC (@GoBearcatsTFXC) May 28, 2018
// THE STAKES
The final meet of the season brings the biggest stakes as well. Not only will team, individual and relay national champions be crowned, but USTFCCCA All-America accolades will also be on the line. The Top 8 finishers in each event will be named USTFCCCA All-America First Team while those finishing ninth through 16th will be named USTFCCCA All-America Second Team.
// NATIONALS HISTORY
With her inclusion in the field this week, Blaut will be making her fifth national appearance and her third outdoor appearance in a row as well. Historically, Blaut is now tied with Jasmine Cotten and Annette Echikunwoke for the most national appearances (five) in UC women's program history while moving into a tie with Renee Hein, also a high jump specialist, for the most outdoor appearances (three) after Hein made the national outdoor field in 2005-07.
// CHASING HISTORY: ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Heading into the national meet, Blaut already ranks as one of the most decorated competitors in UC women's program history as she is tied for the most All-America honors earned (four) and the most outdoor All-America honors (two). Should she finish in the Top 16 at the meet this weekend, she break her current tie with Annette Echikunwoke (2016-present) and Erika Hurd (2015-16) for the top spot. An All-America accolade this weekend also would break her tie with Hurd and Kathy Klump (2011-12) for the most outdoor All-America honors earned in women's program history as all three women currently have two.
// THE LAST TIME: 2018 NCAA INDOOR
The last time Blaut competed in an NCAA event was the 2018 NCAA Indoor meet in College Station, Texas, where she was the national runner-up. In the competition, Blaut and Nicole Greene (North Carolina) put up identical marks as both cleared 1.76m and 1.81m on their first attempts before each needed second-attempt clearances at both 1.84m and 1.87m. After each missed three times at 1.90m, a jump-off was held to determine the champion and, after seven rounds, Greene would take the title. In the jump-off, each missed their attempts at 1.90m, 1.88m, 1.86m and 1.84m before both cleared at 1.82m to send the bar back to 1.84m where each missed once again. With the bar back at 1.82m, Blaut missed her attempt and Greene cleared to claim the title.
// THE LAST TIME: 2017 NCAA OUTDOOR
Last year, Blaut finished in a four-way tie for sixth place as she cleared a best of 1.82m (5-11.50) at the meet in Eugene to secure All-America honors once again. Blaut entered the meet at the opening height of 1.73m and cleared on her first attempt. She followed suit at the next two bars - 1.78m and 1.82m - before missing three times at 1.85m. She was actually tied with seven other women for sixth place, but misses at earlier heights by four other women pushed them down to 10th-12th places.
// ONE OF SIX
Blaut is one of six women that will compete in the high jump Saturday after competing at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year. Blaut, the national runner-up at the indoor meet in College Station, Texas, in March, is one of four USTFCCCA All-America First Team honorees that will be in the field this weekend, including fourth-place finisher Zarriea Willis (Texas Tech), fifth-place finisher Clarissa Cutliff (FIU) and seventh-place finisher Shelly Spires (Air Force). The other two women on the list include Lissa Labiche (South Carolina) and Andrea Stapleton (BYU), who placed 14th and 15th, respectively.
// ACADEMICALLY SOUND
For the third year in a row, Adrian Valles earned a place on the Google Drive CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 First Team list after the graduate student posted yet another solid year in the classroom to compliment his outstanding athletic accomplishments. The two-time NCAA Elite 90 Award winner (athlete with the highest GPA that competed at the 2017 & 2018 NCAA indoor meets), Valles is now eligible to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, which he has done each of the past two years, being named to the second team in 2016 and the first team last year.
Congrats to @AdrianValles95 for being named to the Google Cloud @CoSIDAnews Academic All-District First Team for the third year in a row!
— Cincinnati TF & XC (@GoBearcatsTFXC) May 30, 2018
Read all about it ?? https://t.co/NStBpbaaaH pic.twitter.com/hcmFWJndBO
// BLOOM WINS ANOTHER
Over the weekend, Alex Bloom competed in his fourth decathlon of the outdoor season and finished with a personal-best score of 7,435 points, a 34-point improvement and the #2 mark in UC history as he won the Texas Greatest Athlete event in Dallas. Bloom recorded two event PRs in the competition, including tying his own school decathlon record in the 100m dash as he ran 10.90 and posted the #8 time in decathlon 400m with a run of 50.39. Overall, he was 16 points shy of his Day One PR (4,103) and 17 away from this Day Two PR (3,350).
// RECRUIT CHECK-IN: CHAMPIONS
The past few weeks have seen many of the Bearcats' incoming recruits compete in their respective state championship meets with four of those newcomers capturing state titles:
• Izzy Kline (Newton Falls, Ohio/Newton Falls HS/Coach Seaton): captured the shot put crown in the Ohio Division II meet and did so simultaneously competing in the high jump, where she finished 10th.
• Quincy Mitchell (Hanahan, S.C./Hanahan HS/Coach Faustin-Parker): won his third career state title as he took gold in the 100m dash for the second year in a row. He nearly duplicated his double from last year as he took second overall in the 200m dash this year after winning the event one year ago.
• Maddie O'Dea (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy/Coach Crofford): twice the state runner-up over 800m, O'Dea moved up to the 1,600m run and captured her first state crown before earning her third career Top 8 finish in the 800m run at the Kentucky state meet.
• Malin Smith (Lansing, Mich./Waverly/Coach Seaton): not only won the state title in the discus, but threw 169-03 to set the state record for all divisions with her winning toss. She also took runner-up honors in the shot put.
// STRONG FINISHES
Several other future Bearcats also found success in their state meets:
• One of the biggest results to come out of the Ohio meet was in the women's 200m where Caisja Chandler (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid HS/Coach Faustin-Paker) ran a huge PR of 23.24, one of the fastest times in state history. The downside to her run was she finished second as the champion bettered her own state record with a run of 22.73 (was 23.17). Chandler also ran on the 4x200m relay and took third in the state.
• Two women from Nordonia HS (Macedonia, Ohio) combined to score big points for their team with both Faith Banks and Carmen Licht helping the 4x400m relay to a third-place showing. Banks (sprints, Coach Wineberg) also took second in the state in the 400m dash while Licht (mid-distance, Coach Crofford) ran a school-record 2:11.20 to finish 6th in the 800m run.
• Local product Leah Maschino (Maineville, Ohio/Kings HS/Coach Crofford) helped her team to a third-place finish in the 4x800m relay as the team ran a school-record time in the meet. She competed individually in the 1600m run as well.
• Out in California, Rylee Penn (Corona/Centennial HS/Coach Crofford), had a very impressive post season as she battled through an always tough state to finish 10th overall in the 800m. It was Penn's third-consecutive trip to the CIF Finals in the half-mile event.
• Austin Goolsby (Hillsboro, Ohio/Hillsboro HS/Coach Kranz) competed in the men's pole vault and finished second overall in the event in the Ohio Division II meet.
PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// CHAMPIONS
UC played host to the American Athletic Conference Championships (May 11-13) and saw four individual Bearcats win conference crowns with two each by the men and women. The first title came on the first night with Aaron Bienenfeld winning the men's 10,000m run. One day later, Brooke Catherine took gold in the women's pole vault while Alex Bloom rounded out his two-day decathlon victory to successfully defend his crown. Finally, on the last day, Loretta Blaut won the high jump to defend her crown and thrill the home crowd as the local product broke multiple records on her way to victory.
// BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS
With their wins, both Blaut and Catherine swept their respective events for 2018. For Blaut, the sweep is her second in as many years after she won the indoor and outdoor double one year ago before duplicating the feat once again this year. Catherine completed the sweep after winning first conference crown at the indoor championships earlier this season. Catherine is now just the second UC woman to sweep the indoor and outdoor pole vault titles in a season. She was joined in the scoring by Rachel Coghill (5th) and Allie Plybon (t-7th), giving the group 15.5 points scored this year, the most since the 2013 season that saw Michelle Eby (1st) and Emily Clay (3rd) score 16 points. It also marks the first time since 2011 that three Bearcats have scored in the pole vault in the same meet.
// BREAKING RECORDS - CINCINNATI
Six marks turned in at the AAC meet went down as school records with Alex Bloom recording three of those marks. Bloom broke his own record in both the decathlon Day One score (4,119 points) and decathlon long jump (7.42m) while adding the top mark for the decathlon 110m hurdles (14.93). Sam Meece was the only other man to record a UC record mark as he broke his own freshman record in the hammer with a best of 55.48m. On the women's side, Alexis Anton rewrote the mark for the 1,500m run (4:29.60) while Blaut's 1.88m clearance gives her not only the high jump record, but the UC all-time (indoor and outdoor combined) record.
// BREAKING RECORDS - CONFERENCE
Two of those school records also brought about changes to several other record books as both Blaut and Bloom rewrote the overall conference, meet and stadium records as well. With her clearance, Blaut is now the all-time record holder indoors and out in the AAC, holds both meet records and now has the Gettler Stadium record as well. Bloom is no stranger to conference records as his decathlon long jump and high jump marks are AAC meet records while also standing as the stadium records. For his career, Bloom now holds four combined-event meet records as those two join his indoor heptathlon 60m (7.00) and heptathlon high jump (2.16m) marks.
// BLAUT HONORED AGAIN
Blaut won the high jump for the second year in a row and the fourth-consecutive AAC meet after winning indoors earlier this year. With the win, which came with a school, conference, meet and venue record clearance of 1.88m (6-2.00) that also leads the NCAA this year, Blaut is now the only woman in UC history to win the event multiple times outdoors in a career and has the most titles (four) after sweeping for the second year in a row. Overall, the Bearcats have dominated the event as UC has won 8 of the 10 available titles since the AAC first held a conference championship meet in 2014. With her win and the marks she attained, Blaut was selected as the 2018 AAC Women's Field Most Outstanding Performance Award recipient, an honor she also win indoors this year.
// GERMAN ENGINEERING
Aaron Bienenfeld scored a huge 18 points for the men - the most of any UC athlete, man or woman, this year - as he won the 10,000m run and doubled back to take second in the 5,000m run. Bienenfeld is the first UC man to win the 10,000m event (at least since 1980) and is only the second man in UC history to go 1-2 in events at the same meet in the distance races. The first was Mark Rupe, who won the 5,000m run and took runner-up honors in the 10,000m in 1994.
// GETTING POINTS - SPRINTS
The women's team had two individuals score in the 200m as Lattimore was 6th and Bisiolu 7th, marking the first time in program history the Bearcats have had multiple point scorers in the event in the same conference meet. Similarly, in the 400m, three women scored, marking the first time that has happened in program history as UC went 3rd (Bisiolu), 4th (Lattimore) and 7th (Gesicki). It also marks the third year in a row that at least two Bearcats women have scored in the event at the AAC meet.
// DISTANCE DOUBLE
Alexis Anton made a bit of history for the mid-distance crew with her career runs in the 800m and 1,500m. In the half, she is the first UC woman since Kathy Klump in 2012 to score in the event after Klump was third in her senior race. Anton also broke the school record in the 1,500m run as the first UC woman to run under 4:31 in the event. Her huge run gives UC a point scorer in the metric mile in back-to-back years after having not scored in the event since 2005 and marks the first time since 2001-2002-2003 that UC has scored in the event in consecutive meets. Additionally, Anton is just the second UC woman to score in the double after Jocelyn Gibson finished eighth in both races in 2005. With the points Anton scored, the distance squad accounted for seven points this year which is not only the most it has scored as members of the AAC, but also is more than all the points previously scored in the AAC after UC tallied five last year and one in 2015 (six total). It also is the most points the group has scored since 2008 when Lilian Jelimo (3rd) and Jill Glassmeyer (7th) combined to score eight points in the 10,000m run.
// NOT MEECING AN OPPORTUNITY
Sam Meece scored in three throwing events for the men, putting the freshman in elite company in UC history. After placing eighth in the shot put, eighth in the discus and seventh in the hammer, he became the first UC man in 21 years (1997) to accomplish the feat with Scott Keane (8th/7th/4th) and Tim Berwanger (6th/5th/7th) both doing so that year. Overall, Meece is the fifth UC man to accomplish the triple score and added the seventh instance.
// GOING OUT ON TOP
Alex Bloom successfully defended his decathlon title, making him just the third UC man (since 1980) to win multiple decathlon titles in a career, joining his coach, Chris Wineberg (2002 & 2004) and David Yimsumruay (1996 & 1997) as the only two-time champions. In fact, Bloom joins Yimsumruay as the only men to win their decathlon titles in back-to-back years.
// 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 finished his career tied with Lanier as an injury kept the senior out of the majority of the outdoor season and preventing him from competing in the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet in order to qualify to Eugene.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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.
// 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 was 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.
// 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). Themen 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.). Bienenfeld later became a mid-year transfer and joined the program in January 2018 to comepte this past season.
// 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 NCAA Championships caps the collegiate season for 2018. Several Bearcats, both on the current roster and former competitors, will suit up for competitions later this summer, including the USA Championships among other events.