TicketsCINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati Track & Field team heads to the Birmingham CrossPlex this weekend for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23.
The Bearcats women's squad will look to defend its 2018 indoor crown, while the men's team looks to improve on a fifth-place finish from a year ago. UC's women's team placed second in both 2016 and 2017 before setting a conference meet record with 147 points with seven event wins which led to its first indoor championship.
UC returns four champions from last year's team including two-time defending champs Loretta Blaut and Naomi Urbano, who won titles in both 2017 and 2018 in the high jump and pentathlon, respectively. Brooke Catherine (pole vault) and Irati Mitxelena (triple jump) will also look to defend their conference crowns from a year ago.
Action begins Friday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. ET, with the women's pentathlon, followed by the start of the men's heptathlon at noon. Live results are available courtesy of xpresstiming.com and a live video stream will be produced by The American and streamed on Facebook Live.
BLAUT LOOKING FOR FIFTH LEAGUE TITLE
Competing in her final conference meet, Loretta Blaut, a four-time American high jump champion and two-time national runner-up, is looking for her fifth conference championship. The American's two-time defending indoor title holder, Blaut enters this year's conference indoor meet ranked No. 1 in the nation after tying her career-best indoor clearance of 1.87 meters (6-01.50) at the Charlie Thomas Invitational. That mark also sits as the UC and AAC record.
MITXELENA OUT FOR TRIPLE JUMP REPEAT
Irati Mitxelena won the conference's indoor triple jump title in 2018, and is in a good spot to repeat in 2019, as the junior registered a UC and AAC record leap of 13.17m on Feb. 8, 2019. Of the three women in AAC history to jump over 13m, two have come from UC with Mitxelena and 2016 AAC Champion Rebecka Abrahamsson.
THE KIDS ARE FAST
Freshman sprinters Caisja Chandler and Quincy Mitchell have already made an impact in their first indoor season. Chandler's season-best run of 7.53 at the Music City Challenge and Mitchell's 6.75 effort from the Buckeye Tune-Up rank as the No. 2 freshmen times in school history on the men's and women's side. In terms of overall UC history, Chandler sits tied for fifth all-time while Mitchell is second.
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. Urbano is the two-time defending AAC Champion in the event.
SMALLER STORY, BUT I AM SURE YOU'RE FOLLOWING
Thrower Jane Sensibaugh will be competing in her second American Athletic Conference Championship sport as the sophomore has played goalkeeper on the UC women's soccer team for the past two seasons.
MITCHELL NAMED FINAL AAC INDOOR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Quincy Mitchell was named the AAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week on the heels of his performance at the Buckeye Tune-Up. Mitchell, a freshman, placed second in the 60m at the Buckeye Tune-Up on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, with a scorching time of 6.75, a PR and the No. 2 time in UC history. That time ranks No. 5 on the American's performance lists this season. Mitchell started off strong in the preliminaries with a PR of 6.88 which sat as the No. 9 run in UC history.
REGIONALLY SPEAKING
Heading into the final weekend before indoor conference championships begin, the women's team ranked No. 3 in the United Stats Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Region with 268.10 points while the men ranked no. 8 in the region with 119.78 points.
WRIGHT TABBED FOR WEEKLY HONOR
Triple jumper Andre Wright was named the AAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 12. Wright won the triple jump at the Vanderbilt's Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee, 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.
AAC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2018: W - 1st / M - 5th
2017: W - 2nd / M - 4th
2016: W - 2nd / M - 4th
2015: W - 4th / M - 4th
2014: W - 7th / M - 7th
RETURNING AAC INDOOR CHAMPIONS
Loretta Blaut, High Jump (2017, 2018)
Brooke Catherine, Pole Vault (2018)
Irati Mitxelena, Triple Jump (2018)
Naomi Urbano, Pentathlon (2017, 2018)
TOP-20 NATIONAL MARKS
Loretta Blaut, High Jump, 1.87m (t-1st)
Irati Mitxelena, Triple Jump, 13.17m (13th)
Naomi Urbano, Pentathlon, 3,805p (19th)
2019 AAC INDOOR ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Dec. 11: Loretta Blaut (field)
Jan. 12: Loretta Blaut (field)
Feb. 5: Loretta Blaut (field)
Feb. 12: Andre Wright (field)
Feb. 19: Quincy Mitchell (track)
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati track and field, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The Bearcats women's squad will look to defend its 2018 indoor crown, while the men's team looks to improve on a fifth-place finish from a year ago. UC's women's team placed second in both 2016 and 2017 before setting a conference meet record with 147 points with seven event wins which led to its first indoor championship.
UC returns four champions from last year's team including two-time defending champs Loretta Blaut and Naomi Urbano, who won titles in both 2017 and 2018 in the high jump and pentathlon, respectively. Brooke Catherine (pole vault) and Irati Mitxelena (triple jump) will also look to defend their conference crowns from a year ago.
Action begins Friday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. ET, with the women's pentathlon, followed by the start of the men's heptathlon at noon. Live results are available courtesy of xpresstiming.com and a live video stream will be produced by The American and streamed on Facebook Live.
BLAUT LOOKING FOR FIFTH LEAGUE TITLE
Competing in her final conference meet, Loretta Blaut, a four-time American high jump champion and two-time national runner-up, is looking for her fifth conference championship. The American's two-time defending indoor title holder, Blaut enters this year's conference indoor meet ranked No. 1 in the nation after tying her career-best indoor clearance of 1.87 meters (6-01.50) at the Charlie Thomas Invitational. That mark also sits as the UC and AAC record.
MITXELENA OUT FOR TRIPLE JUMP REPEAT
Irati Mitxelena won the conference's indoor triple jump title in 2018, and is in a good spot to repeat in 2019, as the junior registered a UC and AAC record leap of 13.17m on Feb. 8, 2019. Of the three women in AAC history to jump over 13m, two have come from UC with Mitxelena and 2016 AAC Champion Rebecka Abrahamsson.
THE KIDS ARE FAST
Freshman sprinters Caisja Chandler and Quincy Mitchell have already made an impact in their first indoor season. Chandler's season-best run of 7.53 at the Music City Challenge and Mitchell's 6.75 effort from the Buckeye Tune-Up rank as the No. 2 freshmen times in school history on the men's and women's side. In terms of overall UC history, Chandler sits tied for fifth all-time while Mitchell is second.
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. Urbano is the two-time defending AAC Champion in the event.
SMALLER STORY, BUT I AM SURE YOU'RE FOLLOWING
Thrower Jane Sensibaugh will be competing in her second American Athletic Conference Championship sport as the sophomore has played goalkeeper on the UC women's soccer team for the past two seasons.
MITCHELL NAMED FINAL AAC INDOOR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Quincy Mitchell was named the AAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week on the heels of his performance at the Buckeye Tune-Up. Mitchell, a freshman, placed second in the 60m at the Buckeye Tune-Up on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, with a scorching time of 6.75, a PR and the No. 2 time in UC history. That time ranks No. 5 on the American's performance lists this season. Mitchell started off strong in the preliminaries with a PR of 6.88 which sat as the No. 9 run in UC history.
REGIONALLY SPEAKING
Heading into the final weekend before indoor conference championships begin, the women's team ranked No. 3 in the United Stats Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Region with 268.10 points while the men ranked no. 8 in the region with 119.78 points.
WRIGHT TABBED FOR WEEKLY HONOR
Triple jumper Andre Wright was named the AAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 12. Wright won the triple jump at the Vanderbilt's Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee, 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.
AAC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2018: W - 1st / M - 5th
2017: W - 2nd / M - 4th
2016: W - 2nd / M - 4th
2015: W - 4th / M - 4th
2014: W - 7th / M - 7th
RETURNING AAC INDOOR CHAMPIONS
Loretta Blaut, High Jump (2017, 2018)
Brooke Catherine, Pole Vault (2018)
Irati Mitxelena, Triple Jump (2018)
Naomi Urbano, Pentathlon (2017, 2018)
TOP-20 NATIONAL MARKS
Loretta Blaut, High Jump, 1.87m (t-1st)
Irati Mitxelena, Triple Jump, 13.17m (13th)
Naomi Urbano, Pentathlon, 3,805p (19th)
2019 AAC INDOOR ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Dec. 11: Loretta Blaut (field)
Jan. 12: Loretta Blaut (field)
Feb. 5: Loretta Blaut (field)
Feb. 12: Andre Wright (field)
Feb. 19: Quincy Mitchell (track)
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati track and field, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.