BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wichita State men's team finished second with 107 points, while
Rebekah Topham won the Women's Most Valuable Indoor Performance award at the American Athletic Conference Championships.
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Rebekah Topham highlighted the day winning two individual titles in the mile and 3000m. Topham entered the mile ranked No. 5 in the conference and pulled out the victory with a time of 4:49.60. In the 3000m she defeated defending champion Hannah Miller of SMU with a time of 9:32.45.
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The Griswold, Iowa, native finished the competition with 22.5 points earning the Women's Most Valuable Indoor Performance award.
"I can't say enough about
Rebekah Topham and her spirit, toughness, talent and her racing strategy," said head track and field director
Steve Rainbolt. "It's unbelievable for her to have three gold medals that she is taking home and an athlete of meet award, it was truly a remarkable display of distance running talent and toughness."
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The Shocker women finished day two with three other all-conference performances from
Winny Koskei,
Kelsey Slawson and
Sidney Sapp.
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Koskei finished third in the 3000m with a time of 9:39.84, her second all-conference honor in the 2019 championships after winning the 5000m on day one. Slawson recorded her third place finish throw on her fourth attempt landing at 15.68m/51-5.5, while Sapp cleared 1.73m/5-8 in the high jump to place third.
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The women's team finished third with 84 points, behind second place Cincinnati (94.5) and first place Houston (98).
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On the men's side, the Shockers finished day two with five individual all-conference honors and one relay all-conference team.
Ben Johnson,
Jake Horsch,
Zack Penrod and
Jared Belardo each received honors in their respective events, while
Rayvon Allen,
Adam Gauzy,
Kaden Griffin and
Austin Corley combined to earn all-conference recognition in the 4x400m.
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Johnson and Horsch powered through the heptathlon recording top-3 finishes. Johnson won the event with a personal best 5,705 points, an American Athletic Conference meet record and the second best mark in Shocker history. Johnson won the 60m hurdles with a meet record time of 8.23, followed by winning the second event of the day equaling his personal best in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.70m/15-5.
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The redshirt senior's score of 5,705 is currently No. 8 in the nation and qualifies for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8-9.
"I'm super excited for
Ben Johnson," said Rainbolt. "He becomes the second best indoor heptathlon in the history of our program behind
Hunter Veith. There are some great guys and All-Americans, that he is now ahead of on the all-time list. What a wonderful performance by Ben and he's going to be right back here two weeks from now at the NCAA Championships, that means the world to me for him."
Horsch set personal bests in the shot put (12.77m/41-10.75), high jump (1.83m/6-0) and pole vault (4.40m/14-5.25) to finish third in the heptathlon with a personal best score of 5,338.
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Penrod recorded two top-3 finishes on day two, including an individual title and a third place finish. The Raytown, Mo., native defended his indoor mile title winning the race with a time of 4:16.58, followed by finishing third in the 800m with a personal best time of 1:50.58, the fifth fastest time in Shocker history.
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Belardo recorded jumps of 14.51m/47-7.25, 14.97m/49-1.5, 15.36m/50-4.75, 15.48m/50-9.5 before landing with the second best mark in the event on his fifth attempt at 15.58m/51-1.5. The senior brings his all-conference honors total to 11, including four in the American Athletic Conference.
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The men's 4x400m team of Allen, Corley, Gauzy and Griffin recorded the third fastest time in Shocker while finishing third in 3:13.11.
Wichita State men finished second with 107 points, behind defending champion Houston with 159.5 points. Memphis finished third with 106 points.
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UP NEXT
National qualifying athletes will travel to Birmingham, Ala., to compete at the NCAA Championships on March 8-9. The Shockers open the outdoor season at the ESU Spring Invitational on March 15 in Emporia, Kan.
ALL-CONFERENCE
Ben Johnson - Heptathlon (Champion)
Zack Penrod - Mile (Champion)
Winny Koskei - 5000m (Champion)
Yazmine Wright - DMR (Champion)
Trudy Martin - DMR (Champion)
Tianna Holmes - DMR (Champion)
Rebekah Topham - DMR (Champion)
Rebekah Topham - Mile (Champion)
Rebekah Topham - 3000m (Champion)
Rayvon Allen - Long Jump (Second)
Hayden Bugner - Pole Vault (Second)
Cory Martens - Weight Throw (Second)
Jared Belardo - Triple Jump (Second)
Jared Belardo - Long Jump (Third)
Jake Horsch - Heptathlon (Third)
Zack Penrod - 800m (Third)
Rayvon Allen - 4x400m (Third)
Adam Gauzy - 4x400m (Third)
Kaden Griffin - 4x400m (Third)
Austin Corley - 4x400m (Third)
Claudia Rojo - Pentathlon (Third)
Winny Koskei - 3000m (Third)
Kelsey Slawson - Shot Put (Third)
Sidney Sapp - High Jump (Third)
