TicketsTUCSON, Ariz. — Behind a school-record performance from Juliette Laracuente-Huebner, the University of Cincinnati track and field teams continued competition Friday at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships with another conference championship, four podium finishes and four athletes advancing through preliminary races into Saturday finals.
Laracuente-Huebner captured the heptathlon title with a school-record 6,086 points, narrowly defeating Annie Molenhouse of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who finished runner-up with 6,005 points.
After ending the opening day in second place with 3,640 points, Laracuente-Huebner surged into the lead Friday by winning the long jump with a mark of 6.22m. She later placed sixth in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 37.73m before taking second in the 800 meters in 2:14.23 to secure the conference crown.
During Thursday’s opening day of competition, Laracuente-Huebner placed third in the 100-meter hurdles in 13.52, seventh in the high jump at 1.70m, third in the shot put with a personal-best mark of 13.20m and third in the 200 meters in 23.83.
In the field events, Omolola Kuponiyi earned a podium finish in the women’s shot put, placing third with a personal-best throw of 15.76m, while Emarie Jackson finished sixth at 15.43m. On the men’s side, Matthew Rusch scored for the Bearcats with an eighth-place finish in the shot put at 16.96m.
In the women’s pole vault, Abby Knouff added another podium finish for Cincinnati, placing eighth with a clearance of 4.17m.
Cincinnati also advanced four more athletes through Friday’s preliminary races into Saturday's finals. Macaela Walker placed fourth in the women’s 100-meter hurdle prelims in 13.24 to qualify for Saturday’s final. Davenae Fagan advanced in the women’s 400-meter prelims after finishing fifth in 52.20, while Ethan Long took sixth in the men’s 100-meter prelims in 10.39 to move on. Kya Epps added another finals berth after placing fourth in the women’s 100-meter prelims with a time of 11.35.
In the decathlon, Miller Mabury was unable to complete the competition after suffering an injury. Mabury entered Friday in fourth place overall with 3,944 points after posting personal bests in the 100 meters (11.12), shot put (13.15m) and high jump (1.97m) during Thursday’s opening events.
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats close out competition Saturday at the Big 12 Championships, beginning with the men’s discus at 6 p.m. ET. Emmanuel Agbo Anih, Seth Apple, Oliver Mayer and Matthew Rusch will represent Cincinnati in the event.
Track events begin at 8:40 p.m. ET with the women’s 4x100-meter relay. Cincinnati’s relay pool includes Macaela Walker, Davenae Fagan, DaShayla Wordlaw, Kya Epps, Morgan Komolafe and Lina Ånstad.
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