WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State men's and women's track and field teams lead their respective team standings heading into the final day of competition at American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships inside Cessna Stadium.
 
Ben Johnson (decathlon) and Kendra Henry (heptathlon) led a Shocker sweep of the multi-events early Saturday afternoon, and Rebekah Topham closed out the evening with a record-shattering performance in the women's steeple chase. In between, Rayvon Allen (men's long jump) and Kelsey Slawson (women's shot put) delivered individual title of their own.
 
"What a terrific two days we've had here this weekend," WSU Director of Track and Field Steve Rainbolt said. "Champions all around for both the men and the women… dominant performances in the men's long jump and women's heptathlon... It's been a total team effort on both sides in terms of battling for the team titles."
 
WSU leads a group of nine men's teams with 87 points – 36 more than Cincinnati (51), followed by UConn (42), Tulsa (21) and Memphis (21). Pre-meet favorite Houston (18) still looms large with several events still to be run on the track.
 
The Shocker women have a 19-point cushion over second-place Cincinnati (47). Memphis is third at 45 points, with Tulsa (35) and Tulane (22) rounding out the top-five out of 12 teams.
 
WSU's 66 points has already surpassed last year's total (45.5) when Rainbolt redshirted a large portion of his women's roster.
 
"That was for the future," Rainbolt said. "Well, clearly the future is now. It's really gratifying and validating to see our team performing at this level and making this happen. We're only about half way through this, in terms of events, but the form chart looks good and I'm hopeful we can finish this thing off tomorrow."
 
TOPHAM TOP-NOTCH:
 
One of the most-decorated runners in Shocker history added to her collection of hardware and set herself up for more on Sunday.
 
Less than three hours after cruising through the 1,500-meter prelims, Topham (a three-time winner at the 2019 AAC indoor meet) gapped the steeple chase field by more than seven seconds to claim her first outdoor crown.
 
Topham's winning time of 10:14.19 broke former Shocker Desiraye Osburn's 2007 Cessna Stadium record (10:27.60) and also snapped a five-year-old AAC mark (10:17.84) set by SMU's Tova Magnuuson during the inaugural American Outdoor Championship.
 
Topham will be among the favorites in Sunday's 1,500-meter final and in the 5,000-meter run where she will compete alongside teammate WInny Koskei, the defending champion.
 
10-TO-WIN:
 
Already the conference indoor heptathlon champion, Johnson added his first decathlon title, besting UConn's Jordan Torney by 110 points. His score of 7,413 points was the second-highest in AAC history and one of the nation's top-20 totals for 2018-19, putting him in solid position for an NCAA Outdoor Championship berth.
 
"It looks pretty solid. It certainly looks like he will be among the top-24 athletes," Rainbolt said. "I am so stroked to be able to go Austin, Texas with Ben Johnson and go through another decathlon with him. He has worked his tail off to become an NCAA All-American indoors, and he will go down there and fight with all that he's worth to be an All-American again."
 
Johnson clung to a narrow nine-point lead with just two events remaining but out-distanced UConn's Ben Torney by 23 feet in the javelin and by nearly 12 seconds in the 1,500-meter run to win comfortably (7,413-7,231).
 
Five Shockers combined for 21 points in the event. Freshman Chandler Stiawalt (4^th, 6,109 points), sophomore Grant Downes (6^th, 5,765), freshman Davis Dubbert (7^th, 5,645) and sophomore Lucas Shaffer (8^th, 5,538) all scored, as well.
 
HEP-HEP-HOORAY:
 
The women scored 24 of their 66 points by sweeping the top-three spots in the heptathlon, with Henry (5,249 points) successfully defending her 2018 conference title ahead of teammates Rojo (5,219) and Wilson (5,106).
 
Henry bested her 2018 championship total by 231 points and moved up one spot to No. 8 on WSU's all-time performance chart.
 
In fifth-place after five events, Henry erased a 251-point deficit with a big performance in the javelin. A day after placing third in the open event, she popped a throw of 48.55 meters to move into first place overall. She protected her lead with a three-second P.R. in the 800-meter run, clocking in at 2:22.97 seconds.
 
Rojo and Wilson became the 11^th and 12^th  Shockers to top 5,000-points in the outdoor heptathlon. Rojo eclipsed her previous-best by 236 points, and Wilson improved her own mark by 237 points.
 
It's the fourth-consecutive year that WSU has boasted a women's heptathlon champion. Between indoor and outdoor conference meets, Shocker men's and women's student-athletes have combined to win 32 multi-event titles in 19 seasons under Rainbolt.
 
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT:
 
By contrast, Slawson became the first Shocker in 31 years to a win conference title (indoors or outdoors) in the women's shot put. Jeanine Banks was the 1988 Gateway Conference outdoor champ.
 
Slawson's toss of 51-feet-4.5 inches (15.50m) was more than half-a-foot beyond the second-place mark.
 
Victory is becoming routine for Slawson. WSU's indoor and outdoor school record-holder in the shot. This was her ninth of the 2018-19 track and field season.
 
THAT'S SO RAYVON:
 
Allen saved his best for last in the men's long jump. The sophomore's sixth-and-final leap of 7.75 meters (25'5.25") matched his personal-best and gapped second-place finisher Hakeem Horton of ECU by nearly 11 inches.
 
It was Allen's first title as a Shocker and comes on the heels of a runner-up finish at the conference indoor meet. The sophomore from St. Louis will also compete in tomorrow's triple jump.
 
OTHER WOMEN'S FIELD EVENT FINALS:

• Alesa Frey cleared a height of 3.91 meters (12'10") to finish sixth in the pole vault competition.

 
OTHER MEN'S FIELD EVENT FINALS:

• The Shockers picked up nine more points, thanks to fourth and fifth-place finishes from Jared Belardo (7.33 meters/ 24'0.75") and Kaden Griffin (7.30 / 23'11.5") in the men's long jump.
• Cory Martins claimed fourth-place in the shot put with a throw of 17.09 meters (56'1).

 
WOMEN'S PRELIMINARIES:

• Conserving her strength for the steeple chase, Topham (4:37.34) took third in her heat to advance to the 1,500-meter final. She'll be joined by freshman Yazmine Wright, who claimed one of four at-large spots with a time of 4:38.36. It will be one of two Sunday races for Wright, who also qualified Friday in the 800-meter run.
• Tianna Holmes (54.42) cruised into the 400-meter final, winning her heat by more than a full second.
• Paula Garcia qualified seventh in the 100-meter dash at 11.73 seconds – less than three hundredths of a second off her best time of the season.

 
MEN'S PRELIMINARIES:

• Freshman Joseph Holthusen advanced in the 110-meter hurdles with the sixth-fastest qualifying time (14.49 seconds).
• Shocker runners took both heats in the men's 1,500 prelim. Junior Zack Penrod – the 2018 runner-up in this event and the 2019 AAC indoor mile champion – won his heat in a time of 3:53.58.
• Freshman Jed Helker won a more-tactical second race in 3:57.18, out-kicking Cincinnati's Andrew Schille by 11-hundredths-of-a-second. Each of the top-four finishers were separated by less half-a-second.
• A trio of Shockers teamed up to score 10 more points in the steeple chase. Sophomores Ethan Kossover (9:07:42) and Cory Landon (9:07.57) placed fourth and fifth respectively and senior Nathan Wickoren took eighth (9:13.03). Landon chopped more than 15 seconds off his previous best.

 
LOOKING AHEAD TO SUNDAY:

• Action begins at 2:30 p.m. CT with the men's high jump and women's triple jump. Women's discus and high jump and men's pole vault and triple jump finish out the field event schedule.
• Track finals run from 4:30 to 8 p.m. with an awards ceremony to follow.