WICHITA, Kan. - The Wichita State women's track and field team claimed its first American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship, Sunday evening, while the Shocker men pushed pre-meet favorite Houston to the wire before settling for a runner-up finish on the final day of competition at Cessna Stadium.
 
WOMENS COMPETITION:
 
Just six months removed from winning their first AAC cross country title, the Shocker women picked their first outdoor track and field championship since joining the league in July, 2017.
 
"It means a lot for our program," Director of Track and Field Steve Rainbolt said. "To show that we're here to compete, we're going to be one of the top teams, and we're going to be tough to beat."
 
The Shocker women used their superior depth to score 126 points and hold off 11 other challengers, including Cincinnati (107), SMU (94) and Memphis (90). Just 32 points separated fifth-through-12^th-place in the standings: UCF (64), UConn (64), Tulsa (53), ECU (52), Tulane (50), Temple (40) and USF (32) rounded out the scoring.
 
Rebekah Topham was named the meet's Most Outstanding Performer – an honor she also claimed at the AAC indoor meet earlier this season – after contributing a team-high 22 points in three events. Less than 24 hours removed from a conference steeple chase record, she finished second in Sunday's 1,500-meter final and fought fatigue for a fifth-place run in the 5,000.
 
Teammate Winny Koskei accounted for 18 points in two events, claiming a runner-up finish in the 5,000-meters to go with her 10,000-meter title from earlier in the weekend.
 
WSU led by 15 points with two events to go, but the duo's combined efforts in the 5K helped clinch the title.
 
Rainbolt accepted The American's Women's Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year Award. It was his 31^st conference indoor/outdoor coaching honor in 19 seasons at the helm. His focus on total team performance netted six Missouri Valley Conference outdoor crowns over a seven-year span from 2011-17. The approach didn't change with the school's move to The American and neither, it appears, have the results.
 
"Our philosophy is to build a team a team with depth and balance – to have good athletes in every event area and keep coming after you, event after event after event," Rainbolt said. "This is a tough league. A legitimately, upper-level league. So this means the world to me that our philosophy seems to hold true in a conference championship."
 
WSU scored in 16 of the 21 events over three days.
 
Notably, 13 of the 18 Shocker athletes that factored in the scoring were underclassmen. With just three seniors from that core group scheduled to graduate, the Shockers could return up to 88 percent of the points from this year's championship ledger.
 
Other Highlights:

• The 400-meter relay team of Paula Garcia, Jacque Darby, Tianna Holmes and Taniyah McMillian took third.
• Freshman Sidney Sapp earned all-conference status in the high jump after clearing the bar at 1.77 meters – good for third-place.

• WSU triple-scored in the 400-meter hurdles with freshman Anycia Cole (4^th, 1:00.31), Alexi Whatley (6^th, 1:01.06), Claudia Rojo (7^th, 1:02.73) combined for 10 points in the event.
• Sophomore Paula Garcia doubled up in the 100 (6^th, 11.69) and 200-meter dashes (6^th, 23.73).
• In addition to Sapp and Cole, four other freshmen scored Sunday points individual events: Amiya Anoma in the triple jump (5^th, 12.63m), Yazmine Wright in the 800 (6^th, 2:14.17) and 1,500-meter runs (5^th, 4:33.27), Holmes in the 400-meters (8^th, 55.27), 

 
Wichita State Women's Outdoor Conference Titles:
Missouri Valley Conference: 10 (2004-07, '11, '12, '14-17)
American Athletic Conference: 1 (2019)
 
MEN'S COMPETITION:
 
Houston's world-class sprinters vs. Wichita State's depth and versatility made for a far more entertaining battle than many would have expected.
 
Heavily favored UH led by just two points over the Shockers going into the final event, but an untimely injury knocked WSU's 1,600-meter relay team out of the race after little more than a lap and squashed any hopes of an upset.
 
UH finished with 178.75 points – 12 more than WSU's final total of 166.75.
 
"We were tasting it," Rainbolt said. "It was right there, down by one point with two events to go. To not be able to finish it off was hard."

Cincinnati (111) edged Uconn (107) for third, with Tulsa (79), Memphis (74), USF (43.75), Tulane (33) and ECU (23.75) holding down the fifth-through-ninth in the standings.
 
25 of the 34 Shocker men's athletes who competed this weekend scored points and 11 earned at least one all-conference honor.
 
Cory Martens' contributed a team-high 17 points across three events toward the men's total. He placed third in Sunday's discus competition (52.03) to earn all-conference honors for the second time this weekend.
 
Two more Shocker athletes captured individuals conference championships, bringing the men's weekend total to five.
 
Zack Penrod set a new AAC record in the 1,500-meters and Mason Buckmaster became just the seventh high-jumper in school history clear 7-feet.
 
Already a two-time AAC indoor mile champ, Penrod won his first outdoor title in a time of 3:49.07, breaking the old mark by over half-a-second. That eased some of the sting from last year's runner-up finish in the event. He returned to the track not long after for a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter final.
 
Buckmaster's winning leap of 2.15 meters (7-0.5) was the sixth-best high jump mark in school history. The redshirt junior out of Butler Community College had already guaranteed himself a top-two finish and a half-inch P.R. when he cleared the bar at 2.12 meters (6-11.5). He and Houston's Brendan Rivera appeared headed for a first-place tie after both athletes missed their first two tries at 2.15. Rivera tipped the bar on No. 3, but Buckmaster succeeded on his final attempt to claim the outright championship.
 
Houston scored just 18 team points over the first two days but racked up 160.75 on Sunday – the majority of them during a two-and-a-half-hour window after the track finals commenced.
 
Mario Burke set a stadium and AAC record at 9.95 seconds in the 100, and the Cougars claimed six of the top-eight spots in the 100-meter dash – good for 29 points. UH tacked on 22 more points in the 400 and another 27 in the 200.
 
When the dust cleared, following the 200, the Cougars held a one-point lead over the Shockers (167.75 to 166.75).
 
Houston gained an additional point in the 5,000-meters to take a two-point cushion into the meet's finale – the 4x400 -- and locked up the team title with a two-second victory over UConn.
 
"It was a tough finish but also a terrific validation for our men's team," Rainbolt said. "Congratulations to the Houston team. That's one of the best in the nation. They'll battle for the national title, for sure. They were second indoors, so this is a spectacular effort for our men's team."
 
Other Highlights:

• Some pleasant surprises in the field events helped WSU withstand Houston's charge for much of the evening:
• A trio of Shockers combined for 14 points in the triple jump, led by an all-conference performance from Jared Belardo. The Leavenworth, Kan. native moved into third-place on his final leap (15.81m/51-10.5). Kaden Griffin (15.43/50-7.5) added three-tenths of a meter to his P.R. to finish in fourth-place, with Rayvon Allen – Saturday's long jump champ – placing sixth at 14.99 meters.
• Two more Shockers earned all-conference status in the discus. Isaiah Evans' first attempt (52.45m/172-1) was not only his best of the day but also a career-best. The Mulvane, Kan. product finished second-place. Martens took third with a fling of 52.03 meters (170-8)
• Three Shockers teamed up to produce 11.75 points in the pole vault, led by senior Hayden Bugner's third-place effort (5.06m/16-7.25"). Freshman Bryce Bearden took fourth with a height of 4.86 meters (15-11.25"). Another freshman, Tate McDonald earned three-quarters of a point as part of a four-way log-jam for seventh-place (4.71/15-5.5).
• Joseph Holthusen placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles and his personal-best at 14.19 seconds.
• Defending 400-meter hurdle champion Austin Corley (50.93) lost a rematch with Houston's Amere Lattin (AAC record 49.79) but still picked up eight points for the Shockers with a second-place finish.

 
INDIVIDUAL SCORERS (WOMEN):
 
Friday:
10,000m: Winny Koskei (So.) -- 34:24.94 % (1st)
Javelin: Kendra Henry (So.) -- 49.08m (3rd)
Javelin: Carlea Miles (Sr.) -- 42.23m (7th)
 
Saturday:
Heptathlon: Kendra Henry (So.) -- 5,249 (1st)
Shot Put: Kelsey Slawon (Sr.) -- 15.66m (1st)
3,000m Steeple: Rebekah Topham (Jr.) -- 10:14.19 % (1st)
 
Heptathlon: Claudia Rojo (Jr.) -- 5,219 (2nd)
Heptathlon: Sydney Wilson (So.) -- 5,106 (3rd)
Pole Vault: Alesa Frey (Sr.) -- 3.91m (6th)
Shot Put: Amanda Kakoulias (So.) -- 14.56m (8th)
 
Sunday:
1,500m: Rebekah Topham (Jr.) -- 4:28.82 (2nd)
5,000m: Winny Koskei (So.) -- 16:37.38 (2nd)
High Jump: Sidney Sapp (Fr.) -- 1.77m (3rd)
4x100: Garcia, Darby, Holmes, McMillan -- 45.25 (3rd)
400m H: Anycia Cole (Fr.) -- 1:00.31 (4th)
Triple Jump: Amiya Anoma (Fr.) -- 12.63m (5th)
1,500m: Yazmine Wright (Fr.) -- 4:33/27 (5th)
5,000m: Rebekah Topham (Jr.) -- 17:01.21 (5th)
100m: Paula Garcia (So.) -- 11.69 (6th)
800m: Yazmine Wright (Fr.) -- 2:14.17 (6th)
200m: Paula Garcia (So.) -- 23.73 (6th)
400m H: Alexi Whatley (Jr.) -- 1:01.06 (6th)
400m H: Claudia Rojo (Jr.) -- 1:02.73 (7th)
400m: Tianna Holmes (Fr.) -- 55.27 (8th)
 
% = Meet Record

INDIVIDUAL SCORERS (MEN):
 
Friday:
Javelin: Aaron True (Sr.) -- 72.93m (1st)
Javelin: Jeff Ast (So.) -- 60.18m (2nd)
Hammer: Cory Martens (Jr.) -- 60.25m (3rd)
Javelin: Davis Dubbert (Fr.) -- 58.61m (5th)
10,000m: Pedro Montoya (Sr.) -- 30:57.10 (5th)
 
Saturday:
Decathlon: Ben Johnson (Sr.) -- 7,413 (1st)
Long Jump: Rayvon Allen (So.) -- 7.75m (1st)
Decathlon: Chandler Stiawalt (Fr.) -- 6,829 (4th)
Long Jump: Jared Belardo (Sr.) -- 7.33m (4th)
Shot Put: Cory Martens (Jr.) -- 17.09m (4th)
3,000m Steeple: Ethan Kossover (So.) -- 9:07.54 (4th)
Long Jump: Kaden Griffin (Sr.) -- 7.30m (5th)
3,000m Steeple: Cory Landon (So.) -- 9:07.57 (5th)
Decathlon: Davis Dubbert (Fr.) -- 6,332 (6th)
Decathlon: Grant Downes (So.) -- 6,296 (7th)
Decathlon: Lucas Shaffer (So.) -- 6,138 (8th)
3,000m Steeple: Nathan Wickoren (Sr.) -- 9:13.03 (8th)
 
Sunday:
High Jump: Mason Buckmaster (Jr.) -- 2.15m (1st)
1,500m: Zack Penrod (Jr.) -- 3:49.07 % (1st)
Discus: Isaiah Evans (Sr.) -- 52.45m (2nd)
400m H: Austin Corley (Sr.) -- 50.93 (2nd)
Discus: Corey Martens (Jr.) -- 52.03m (3rd)
Pole Vault: Hayden Bugner (Sr.) -- 5.06m (3rd)
Triple Jump: Jared Belardo (Sr.) -- 15.81m (3rd)
Pole Vault: Bryce Bearden (Fr.) -- 4.86m (4th)
Triple Jump: Kaden Griffin (Sr.) -- 15.43m (4th)
800m: Zack Penrod (Jr.) -- 1:52.63 (5th)
Triple Jump: Rayvon Allen (So.) -- 14.99 (6th)
110m H: Joseph Holthusen (Fr.) -- 14.19 (6th)
1,500m: Jed Helker (Fr.) -- 3:56.32 (6th)
Pole Vault: Tate McDonald (Fr.) -- 4.71m (four-way tie for 7th)
800m: Jed Helker (Fr.) -- 1:59.55 (8th)
4x100: Griffin, Allen, Gauzy, Corley -- 41.63 (8th)
 
% = Meet Record

UP NEXT
Wichita State will travel to Sacramento, Calif., May 23-25, with qualified athletes for the NCAA West Preliminaries.