BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Michael Bryan led the Shockers on day one of the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships with his winning throw of 22.58m/74-1.
 
"Michael Bryan has had a great season, and I feel like what we saw today has been building for the last few weeks," throws coach John Hetzendorf said. "He has shown glimpses of this in training, and I'm glad he could make it happen today."
 
Bryan's throw set a new championship and school record, breaking the previous records by over a meter. He also moved from 29^th up to No. 6 in the nation in the event.
 
"His throw is historical in our program and within our conference, and I'm excited to see what he can do at the national meet against some high-level competition," Hetzendorf said. "It appears this national meet may be the deepest field in the weight throw there has ever been."
 
Also earning all-conference honors on day one were the members of the men's distance medley relay. Bryce Merriman, JD Prinsloo, Josh Cable and Adam Moore put together a third-place DMR that ranks No. 4 in school history.
 
The Shocker men sit in third place in the team competition after day one with 33 points, behind Cincinnati (41.5 points) and Tulsa (35 points). Houston is only half a point back in fourth with a lot of projected points coming on day two. The Shockers will have a chance to battle it out for a top three finish.
 
In the 5,000 meters, Clayton Duchatschek, Ben Flowers (PB) and Trey Rios (PB) went 5-6-7 to earn nine points towards the team total.
 
Adria Navajon and Dowdy Elazarig added eight more with their fourth and sixth place finishes in the long jump, and Navajon sits atop the heptathlon leaderboard heading into day two with meet records in both the heptathlon high jump and heptathlon long jump. He also ran a personal-best time of 8.28 in the open 60-meter hurdles to secure a spot in the finals, where teammates Hudson Bailey and Chonnor Ludolph will join him.
 
Also making finals in the running events was Josh Cable in the 800 meters with a personal best of 1:54.13 and Joakim Genereux in the 200-meter dash with a personal best of 21.55.
 
Maria Romero and Destiny Masters place sixth and seventh in the pentathlon to score five points for the women's team, and both recorded personal bests in the 800 meters to wrap up the event.
 
In the pole vault, Margaux Thompson cleared 3.82m/12-6.25 to take seventh and score two points.
 
On the track, Yazmine Wright sailed through the mile prelims with the top time (4:54.72) from either heat, and Faith Turner recorded the second-fastest 60-meter time of the day with a 7.46 to secure her spot in the finals on day two.
 
The second day of competition starts Saturday at 9 a.m.