Track & Field Set for Music City Challenge

// ON THE STARTING LINE
The final regular season meet of the 2020 indoor season is upon the University of Cincinnati track & field program as the Bearcats will venture to Nashville, Tenn., this weekend to take part in the Music City Challenge hosted by Vanderbilt Friday and Saturday. The meet will be the final event before the Bearcats compete in the 2020 American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala., February 28-29. In addition to the meet in Nashville, Aaron Bienenfeld will be racing in Seattle as the senior will challenge a talented field in the 5,000m run at Washington's Husky Classic.

// QUICK SPLITS
• Chris Borzor (M 200m), Ellie Leather (W Mile) and the women's DMR all broke school records last week at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station, Texas
• Borzor and the DMR, along with Taylor Beard (W HJ) and Katie Straus (W Pentathlon) all recorded marks that ranked among the best 10 of the week across all collegiate divisions
• Borzor was named the AAC Male Track Athlete of the Week for the first time
• Along with the records, 13 other marks recorded ranked among the all-time Top 10 in program history, including two that ranked second all-time
• Entering the weekend, the Bearcats hold five marks that lead the American, including four on the men's side and one on the women's
• Aaron Bienenfeld is the AAC leader in both the mile and 3,000m to pace the men while freshman Taylor Beard lead the conference in the women's high jump, and event UC has won every year at the AAC Indoor Championships

// MEET INFORMATION
• The Music City Challenge will run Friday and Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
• Competitors from 16 schools will be on hand to take part
• Live results can be found at CFPItiming.com both days of the meet
• There are no live streams (video) of the meet

// FEELING HONORED
For the second week in a row, Chris Borzor raced in the 200m and 400m dashes. And, for the second week in a row, he posted personal-best times that rank among the fastest in program history. For his efforts, he was named this week's AAC Male Track Athlete of the Week. In the 200m, Borzor blazed a time of 20.92 to become the first UC man to break 21 seconds in the event indoors while moving up to #12 on the season list nationally. He also ran a time of 47.70 in the 400m to jump up to #6 all-time at UC. He currently ranks #1 and #3, respectively, in the American two weeks out from the conference meet.

// GOING THE DISTANCE
To say the distance runners had a Texas-sized day in Texas might be an understatement. From the 800m to the 3,000m runs individually and including the women's distance medley relay, the Bearcats distance corps tallied eight marks that rank among the all-time Top 10 in program history with two school records and two others ranking among the Top 3.

// RUNNING RELAY FAST
The first school record to fall came in the women's distance medley relay as the team of Maddie Walker (1,200m), Carmen Licht (400m), Sydney Kilgore (800m) and Ellie Leather (1,600m) combined to run 11:36.35, and finish third overall in the race. The quartet not only broke the school record by nearly six seconds, it also posted a season-best time by nearly 30 seconds. To add to it, none of the four women raced for the Bearcats last year as Walker was in high school, Licht was redshirting her freshman year at UC, Kilgore was a member of the UC soccer team, and Leather was competing for Fresno State.

// FINE LEATHER
Leather was not done with records after the DMR. The junior transfer, who split a remarkable 4:46.6 in the relay, came back the next day and raced the mile for UC for the first time. In the race, she placed third overall as she crossed the line in 4:47.41 to break the school record by two seconds, a mark that had stood since 2002.

// DON'T MILE IF I DO!
Leather was not the only UC runner to find success in the mile as four other ran and each posted personal bests. For the women, Sam Mikula placed 10th overall as she finished in 4:58.62, the #3 time in program history. On the men's side, Aaron Bienenfeld won the race in 4:04.77 to post the #2 time ever while Toni Banos and Tyler Wirth ran 4:11.40 and 4:11.45, respectively. Banos now ranks #10 all-time.

// LENGTHY SUCCESS
Added to that success were times in the longest two events, the 3,000m and 5,000m runs. In the 3,000m, Katrina Patterson posted a time of 9:50.99 to move up to #4 all-time at UC. In the 5,000m run, Hannah Markel clocked a time of 17:26.16 for the #8 time in UC history.

// SOCCER IT TO ME!
Finally, in the 800m run, Sydney Kilgore raced to a time of 2:13.38 to record the #9 time in program history. Her time came in just her third race of the season and third since high school as the senior played on the soccer team the past two seasons after transferring in from Indiana where she played soccer as a freshman and sophomore.

// SPRINT ADDITIONS
Caisja Chandler, Victoria Abunaw and Faith Banks also posted times that rank among the best in program history as Chandler once again ran 7.41 in the 60m dash, Abunaw clocked in at 8.55 in the 60m hurdles and Banks ran 55.39 in the 400m. For Chandler, that time ranks second all-time in UC history while Abunaw moved to #8. In the 400m, Banks' time moved her up to #8.

// BEARD GROWING
In the pentathlon, freshman Taylor Beard continued to improve her mark in the high jump as she cleared 1.76m (5-09.25) to move up with #2 in UC pentathlon history and #5 overall. Her mark sees her trailing just Jasmine Cotten for the pentathlon record after Cotten cleared 1.82m in 2012. As it stands now, Beard is the leader in the American with her clearance.

// 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.

// UP NEXT
Championship season will be upon the Bearcats in two weeks as they will venture to the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., for the 2020 AAC Indoor Championships. The two-day meet will run February 28-29.