WICHITA, Kan. – Winny Koskei and Aaron True defended American Athletic Conference titles winning their respective events for the second consecutive season, Friday, May 10 at Cessna Stadium.
 
Wichita State completed day one of the American Athletic Championships with five all-conference honors, including two individual champions. The Shockers also advanced eight to Sunday's finals, while Ben Johnson and Sydney Wilson ended day one of their respective multi's in first place.
 
TAKE THE STAGE
True made his presence felt early in the javelin competition with his first attempt landing at 71.52m/234-7, nearly 46-feet farther than second place. After fouling his second attempt, the All-American reassured his dominance with a competition best throw of 72.93m/239-3. He recorded marks of 69.91m/229-4 on his fourth attempt and 71.81m/235-7 on his fifth attempt, before fouling on his final attempt.

WSU senior @true_aaron took home another conference championship in the javelin!

MVC-1@American_Conf-2@GoShockersTFXC pic.twitter.com/AJQdpk8wSp

— Chris Lilly KAKE News (@Chris_LillyTV) May 11, 2019

 
Fellow teammate Jeff Ast finished second with a heave of 60.18m/197-5 earning all-conference honors for the first time in his Shocker career.
 
True wasn't the only Shocker looking to defend a title in front of the home crowd, Winny Koskei entered the 10,000m ranked second in the conference. At the 5000m mark the 2018 champion was sitting in fourth place, before making her move into second place. Trailing into the final lap, Koskei turned on the jets and recorded a time of 1:08.70 in the final 400m to repeat as the women's 10,000m champion with an American Athletic Conference record and Cessna Stadium record time of 34:24.94.
 

Another big win for @GoShockersTFXC as Winny Koskei set a new @American_Conf record in the women's  10,000 and broke the stadium-best mark with a championship time of 34:24.94! pic.twitter.com/ZkfNtDoZZW

— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) May 11, 2019

 
After completing four events earlier in heptathlon, Kendra Henry was back in action earning all-conference honors in the women's javelin. The Waverly, Kan., native placed third with a personal best throw of 49.08m/161-0, the second farthest throw in Shocker history.
 
Cory Martens earned all-conference honors in men's hammer throw with a mark of 60.25m/197-8. Martens qualified for the finals with marks of 54.99m/180-5 on his first attempt and 59.23m/194-4 on his third attempt. In the finals he fouled his first attempt and ended with his competition best mark on his fifth throw, before fouling his final attempt.
 
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
Wichita State advanced five women and three men to Sunday's finals on the track, including three in the women's 400m hurdles and two in the men's 800m dash.
 
Shockers were in full force in the women's 400m hurdles prelims winning two of the three heats, advancing three to the Sunday's final at 6:15 p.m. Alexi Whatley led the group winning heat two with a personal best and Shocker season leading time of 1:00.40. The Shocker momentum continued in heat three as Anycia Cole and Claudia Rojo finished 1-2, Cole won the heat with a personal best time of 1:01.42 and Rojo followed clocking in at 1:01.93.
 
The success continued for Wichita State in the 400m hurdles as Austin Corley placed second in heat two and advancing with a time of 51.82. The Adrian, Mo., native will look to defend his conference title Sunday, May 12 at 6:20 p.m., after the women's final at 6:15 p.m.

Paula Garcia advanced to the women's 200m finals winning the fifth heat with a time of 23.80.
 
Kirk Hunter's 800m crew advanced three Shockers to Sunday's finals including Zack Penrod and Jed Helker in the men's race, while Yazmine Wright advanced in the women's race. Wright kicked things off finishing with the fourth fastest preliminary time of 2:10.76, a personal best and the sixth fastest time in Shocker history.
 
Penrod and Helker asserted themselves finishing 1-2 in the second heat of the men's preliminary 800m. Penrod led the way clocking in at 1:51.71, followed by Helker in 1:52.85.
 
The women's 800m final is set for Sunday, May 12 at 6:00 p.m., followed by the men's final at 6:05 p.m.
 
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Shockers Ben Johnson and Sydney Wilson each finished day one leading their respective multi-event competitions. Johnson placed top-3 in all five day one decathlon events, including a first place finish in shot put with a mark of 14.15m/46-5.25, while Wilson set personal best in three of four event in the heptathlon.
 
Wilson started the day off on a hot streak recording a personal best in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.38, her time was second fastest in the event behind teammate Claudia Rojo in 14.27. Her momentum carried into the high jump, as a specialist in the event she finished with the highest clearance and personal best height of 1.71m/5-7.25, moving her into first after two events.
 

#SydneyWilson moves into first place after winning the heptathlon high jump with a personal best clearance of 1.71m/5-7.25, after two events she leads with 1,792 points. #watchus pic.twitter.com/G3aSKeX7go

— Wichita State T&F/XC (@GoShockersTFXC) May 10, 2019

Wilson finished day one of the heptathlon running a personal best 200m time of 25.61, ending her day with 3,236 points and a 129-point lead over Katie Straus of Cincinnati.
 
Johnson started his day with a second place finish in the 100m (10.89) and third place finish in long jump (6.76m/22-2.25), while Jordan Torney of UConn jumped out to a 111-point lead after two events. The Tonganoxie, Kan., native was not fazed and answered back winning the shot put with a toss of 14.15m/46-5.25, taking the lead after three events and never looked back ending the day in first with 3,895 points.
 
OTHER NOTABLES
• Pedro Montoya scored four points for the Shockers finishing fifth in the men's 10,000m with a time of 30:57.10.
• Claudia Rojo and Kendra Henry each finish day one of the women's heptathlon in the top-5, Rojo sits in third with 3,089 points and Henry in fourth with 3,068 points. Rojo won the 100m hurdles (14.27), while Henry won the shot put (12.50m/41-0.25).
• Chandler Stiawalt completed day one of the men's decathlon in fourth place with 3,874 points, while recording personal bests in the 100m (11.22), shot put (12.03m/39-5.75) and 400m (52.03).
 
UP NEXT
Day two of the American Athletic Conference Championships continues Saturday, May 11 with the continuation of the men's decathlon at 10:30 a.m., followed by women's heptathlon at 11:00 a.m. Field events are set to begin at 3:00 p.m., and running events at 5:30 p.m. Admission begins at $10 for all-session passes and $5 for single day tickets.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Aaron True - Javelin (Champion)
Winny Koskei - 10,000m (Champion)
Jeff Ast - Javelin (Second)
Kendra Henry - Javelin (Third)
Cory Martens - Hammer Throw (Third)