TicketsCINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati track and field team will send a select group of student-athletes to Columbus, Ohio, Friday to compete in the Buckeye Tune-Up at Ohio State's French Field House.
With the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships coming up in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, the Bearcats will have a shot to better their marks in the state capitol.
Field events get underway at 3 p.m. ET while running events start at 3:30 p.m.
UC is set to field athletes in the weight throw, shot put, pole vault and men's long jump along with the 60m hurdles, 60m dash, 200m, 400m and men's 3,000m.
REGIONALLY SPEAKING
Heading into the final weekend before indoor conference championships begin, the women's team ranks No. 3 in the United Stats Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Region with 268.10 points while the men rank no. 8 in the region with 119.78 points.
PENTATHLON SQUAD TOPS USTFCCCA RANKS
For the first time in school history, UC topped the USTFCCCA Event Squad ranks with the pentathlon quartet of Angelica Lightfoot, Sydney Spears, Katie Straus and Naomi Urbano all posting top marks this season. Urbano (3,873) and Lightfoot (3,862) sit 1-2 in the American Athletic Conference performance list after their finish at the Charlie Thomas Invitational. Straus (3,587) and Spears (3,430) finished first and third at the Thundering Herd Invitational and rank t-6th and 10th on the conference's indoor performance chart.
LOOKING AT THE TFRRS RANKS
Loretta Blaut is tied for the top spot on the NCAA indoor performance list in the women's high jump with her season-best effort of 1.87m in a victory at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station Texas. Irati Mitxelena is No. 12 in the triple jump after her record-setting leap of 13.17m a week ago at the Music City Challenge. Naomi Urbano's AAC-leading pentathlon total of 3,873 points from the Charlie Thomas Invitational ranks No. 19 nationally.
WRIGHT TABBED FOR WEEKLY HONOR
Triple jumper Andre Wright was named the AAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week. Wright won the triple jump at the Vanderbilt's Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee, last weekend, moving up to No. 2 on the conference's performance list and No. 32 in the nation with his distance of 15.57m (51-01.00). Wright is the third man in Cincinnati history to clear 50 feet in the triple jump. He registered another top-10 finish with his distance of 7.15m (23-05.50) in the long jump. He broke his own PR of 15.31m, set earlier this year. Wright has been chasing Al Lanier's school-record mark of 15.99m, which has stood since 1972.
BIENENFELD EARNS ACADEMIC HONOR
Aaron Bienenfeld, a junior on the cross country team, has earned recognition as a 2018 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual for cross country. Along with Bienenfeld, who raced at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November and placed 111th in his NCAA debut, both Bearcats teams were honored as USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams for their academic efforts during the season.
The first individual recipient of the national academic honor since Kevin Fink in 2015, Bienenfeld collected his first national accolade after a season in which he shined brightly for the Bearcats. The first UC man to qualify for the national race since 2011 and just the fifth all-time, Bienenfeld placed 12th in the NCAA Great Lakes Region race after placing third at the AAC Championships.
He is currently competing in the 2019 indoor track & field season where he has posted personal-best times in a trio of events, including resetting his own school record in the 5,000m run with a time of 14:08.81. He also has posted the No. 2 3,000m time (8:14.21) and the No. 6 mile time (4:10.12) this season.
TEAM XC ACADEMIC HONORS
Additionally, both Bearcats teams were recognized for their efforts in the classroom as well as each was named a 2018 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team. The men, led by Sam Burroughs, posted a collective 3.47 grade-point average during the season while Lara Crofford's women recorded an overall GPA of 3.40. To be eligible for the team award, a squad must carry a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher during the season.
This year's honor for the men marks the 13th year in a row the Bearcats have earned recognition from the USTFCCCA, streak that dates back to the 2006 season. In that same time, the women have earned 11 honors, including the past five years with only the 2012 and 2013 seasons seeing the women not make the list.
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