BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wichita State track and field team travels to Birmingham, Alabama for the American Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday and Saturday.
 
The Shockers enter the first indoor championship meet in two years with four athletes atop the conference standings in five events. Tanner Brown and Destiny Masters lead the conference in the multis, with Masters also atop the high jump standings. Michael Bryan's and Paula Garcia's school record marks lead the conference in the weight throw and 200 meters, respectively.
 
"It's always great to see people peaking at the right time, and we're obviously seeing that across the board with a lot of personal records," head coach Steve Rainbolt said. "Our team typically rounds into form at the right time because we have a coaching staff that knows how to help the athletes get ready at the right time."
 
Twenty-three other Shockers currently sit in scoring position, with a handful of others on the bubble based off their conference rankings heading into championships.
 
"We go to every championship meet with a vision for team success," Rainbolt said. "Top-three finishes are certainly our goal, but on the women's side, right now, a top-four finish is probably more realistic. It's going to be challenging. You really never know exactly how it's all going to play out."
 
On the men's side, Houston is projected to win their third-straight team title as they lead the conference in nine of the 17 events. The Shockers will have to battle for second with Cincinnati and Tulsa. For the women, UCF is projected to win the team title with Cincinnati not far behind, and the Shockers will have to contend with Houston and Tulsa to break into the top three.
 
"We've got a variety of aches and pains that are causing us difficulty, so ultimately going to the track meet and feeling like the athletes performed well and rose to the occasion for championship track and field is what will make me leave feeling good," Rainbolt said.
 
The meet gets underway on Friday at 9 a.m. and wraps up on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
EVENT COACH QUOTABLES:
 
Throws Coach John Hetzendorf:
"I'd like to see more of the same. I feel like the plan that we started with is going accordingly. Now it's just about a little bit of fine tuning and carrying that momentum into this weekend to see if we can add to that, which I think we can. I think that everybody that threw PRs left some on the table, so I'm excited to make the final adjustments and get ready for a good weekend in Birmingham."
 
Distance Coach Kirk Hunter:
"On the men's side, we're up against a massive opponent when it comes to Tulsa. Everybody knows about Tulsa and how good they are, so they alone are going to make it tough for us. Cincinnati is also good and Memphis throws in good people all the time, so we'll have to run at an extremely high level to do well. It doesn't matter who it is that scores. On the women's side, it's a little bit of everybody that we're up against, and we're in a rebuilding phase this year, so it's going to take quite a bit to get into scoring. We'll have to go in there and do our best. I'm always the kind of guy that says, 'Go in and compete at your best,' in terms of either getting personal records or racing intelligently, and if they do those things, to me, that's success because good things will happen. I want them to learn and grow."
 
Sprints/Hurdles Coach John Wise:
"Certainly, we always try to do the best we can as a team. Besides Joseph Holthusen, who's scored well in the past, we have a lot of people who haven't scored many points but are talented and on the bubble of scoring. We want our relays to compete well, and we're trying to take the next steps with bringing someone like Jaleel Montgomery, who was eighth last year, into the top five this year, or getting someone who wasn't scoring last year to score this year."
 
Pole Vault Coach Pat Wilson:
"Margaux Thompson is finally growing into the vaulter I always knew she could be. She has continued to gain confidence throughout this indoor season, especially last week at Arkansas. Not only did she vault well there, but she competed like an upper level conference performer."
 
Horizontal Jumps Coach Heidi Benton:
"I hope they all go out and have their best performances. I'd like to see good performances and scoring in both the long jump and triple jump for Faith Turner and for her to make it through the meet healthy. The completion of the indoor season will be a good jumping off point for outdoor."