CINCINNATI - The American Athletic Conference has announced its first weekly award winners of 2020 for indoor track & field with University of Cincinnati seniors Irati Mitxelena and Aaron Bienenfeld both earning awards following their strong showings over the weekend at the Jim Green Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Mitxelena was tabbed as the AAC Female Field Athlete of the Week while Bienenfeld was selected as the AAC Male Track Athlete of the Week.
// GIANT JUMP
Mitxelena competed in the triple jump and bounced her way to a season-best mark of 12.79m (41-11.50) in Lexington to earn the event victory as well. The lone event winner for UC on the weekend, Mitxelena, a returning triple jump conference champion for the Bearcats, moved up to #1 on the American's season-best list. And, according to the USTFCCCA's Weekly Top 10 Marks, her leap measured as the #5 mark of the weekend across all collegiate divisions. She also currently sits #7 on the NCAA's season-best list.
// FAST START
Following a busy and highly successful cross country season both in the States and in Europe, Bienenfeld opened his senior track season as he took part in the mile and was the race's runner-up in a personal-best time of 4:07.17. The third-fastest time in the nation last week according to the USTFCCCA Weekly Top 10, Bienenfeld moved up to #5 in the program's all-time Top 10 by becoming only the sixth UC man to run the indoor mile in under 4:10. His time in Lexington pushed him ahead of Bill Beatty, who is now #6 after 4:09.54 in 1969. Additionally, Bienenfeld was just off the #4 time of Ron Stapleton after the cross country All-American ran 4:07.14 (-0.03) in 1972.
Ranked fifth in the nation currently and tops in the American by over four seconds, Bienenfeld is one of just two UC men to add their names to the program's all-time Top 10 in the mile since 1998 with Eric Finan's time of 4:04.94 from 2011 sitting second. Jeff Johnson continues to hold the record at 4:04.14 after running that in 1984.
// HONORS HAUL
The award for Mitxelena is the first of her career while Bienenfeld garnered his first track accolade to go along with two cross country awards earned earlier this academic year. Bienenfeld was selected as the AAC Male Cross Country Runner of the Week on both September 23 and October 22 following individual race victories for the senior.
// AWARD HISTORY
The awards earned are the 58th and 59th in program history when including cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field since the AAC began selecting award recipients in the 2013-14 academic year. Mitxelena's honor is the 38th overall for the women's program and 21st women's indoor field accolade. With her selection, UC has had at least one women's field student-athlete selected for a weekly award for the seventh year in a row. On the men's side, Bienenfeld's selection is the 21st for the men all-time and the fifth indoor track honor received, all of which have come in the past three seasons (three in 2017-18, one last year, one this year).
// NEXT MEET
Cincinnati returns to competition next weekend as the Bearcats will return to Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky., to take part in the 2020 Rod McCravy Memorial hosted by Kentucky. The two-day meet will run January 24-25.
Mitxelena, Bienenfeld Selected for Weekly AAC Honors
The American Athletic Conference has announced its first weekly award winners of 2020 for indoor track & field with University of Cincinnati seniors Irati Mitxelena and Aaron Bienenfeld both earning awards following their strong showings over the weekend at the Jim Green Invitational in Lexington, Ky.
