TAMPA, Fla. – The Wichita State track and field team travels to Tampa, Fla. for the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships as the men's team looks to defend its title and women's team fights for a top-five finish.

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MEN
 
STARTING LINES
Wichita State looks to defend its outdoor title after ending Houston's five-year winning streak a year ago in Wichita.
 
Wichita State and Houston have been the top two teams in the last three outdoor championships, but the Cincinnati men are not to be counted out after claiming the AAC Indoor Championship title earlier this year.
 
Projections show Wichita State finishing third behind Houston and Cincinnati as they did prior to the 2022 championship.
 
The Shockers' versatility helped win in 2022 with athletes scoring in 19 of the 21 events, while Houston scored in 13 events.
 
The Shockers have claimed back-to-back 3,000-meter steeplechase titles with Ethan Kossover winning in 2021 and Clayton Duchatschek winning in 2022.
 
Wichita State has won every javelin title since joining the conference in 2018.
 
NO. 1 SEEDS
Three Shockers hold top seed marks entering the conference meet.
 
Matty Everett, the reigning AAC discus champion, maintains the top spot in the event by over a meter with a throw of 57.38m/188'3".
 
CDuchatschek looks to repeat as the AAC steeplechase champion and enters with the fastest seed time (8:45.98), as the conference leader, Christian Baker of Tulsa, will not contest the steeplechase, running the 1500 meters and 5,000 meters instead.
 
Yuben Goncalves leads the conference in the 400-meter hurdles with his personal-best time of 51.11 from the Shocker Open.
 
IN THE HUNT
All-American Brady Palen and Weston Lewis are seed No. 2 and 3, respectively, in the high jump behind South Florida's Romaine Beckford, who leads the NCAA (DI) in the event. Palen's season-best of 2.19m/7'2.25" ranks him ninth in the NCAA (DI) with the Shocker high jump squad rankings 13^th.
 
Just missing the scoring in the hammer a year ago, Creighton Camp enters this championship meet as the No. 2 seed (55.81m/183'1"), having already thrown over 6 meters farther than his personal best prior to this season.
 
Blake McCormick quickly worked his way up to second in the conference during his freshman campaign with a throw of 60.49m/198'5" and will compete for a spot on the podium.

In his first season as a Shocker, Iestyn Williams raced to the fourth-fastest 800-meter time (1:51.34) in the conference and is scheduled to run as the No. 4 seed.
 
NOT SO SECRET WEAPONS
Goncalves will make his horizontal jumps outdoor season debut at the conference meet for the second-straight year. Last outdoor season, Goncalves opened up in the jumps at conference after only hurdling and running relays throughout the season and leapt to All-Conference honors in the triple jump and a fourth-place finish in the long jump. His triple jump mark qualified him to the NCAA West Preliminaries and would be conference-leading mark this season. His long jump mark from a year ago would rank him second in the current conference standings.
 
Adria Navajon is set to compete in his first decathlon of the season after repeating as the AAC indoor heptathlon champion and winning the decathlon outdoor a year ago. His point total from last year's conference meet would slide him into first in the conference rankings. As it stands, Cincinnati's Dominique Hall holds the top seed with Nate Vann, Hudson Bailey and Kolby Caster in the next three spots. Navajon is also seeded eighth in the 110-meter hurdles, 11^th in the long jump, and will make his season debut in the high jump.

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WOMEN
 
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The Shocker women are aiming for a top-five finish after placing 10^th at the 2022 AAC Outdoor Championship and this year's AAC Indoor Championship.
 
Projections would have UCF repeating as team champions followed by Cincinnati and Houston, with Wichita State ending up 10^th, but the point spread between fifth and 10^th is just 12 points, so outperforming the form charts could slingshot the Shockers up a number of spots.
 
SHOCKERS SEEDED TOP THREE
Wichita State's No. 6-ranked high jump squad brings the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds to the championship competition. Destiny Masters' clearance of 1.83m/6'0" is 1 centimeter behind the top seed (Taylor Beard; Cincinnati), and Marissa Jensen's jump of 1.78m/5'10" ties with two other athletes for the third best entry mark. Masters is also seeded fifth in the heptathlon, seventh in the long jump and ninth in the javelin.
 
Miranda Dick's 3,000-meter steeplechase time of 10:41.00 at the Drake Relays shot her up to third in the conference as she will race for a podium finish as the No. 3 seeed.
 
After scoring in both the hammer and javelin as a freshman at last year's conference meet, Samantha Marx enters the javelin competition as the No. 3 seed with her mark of 44.84m/147'1" from the Rock Chalk Classic. Tess Roman is also in scoring position in the javelin as the No. 7 seed and holds the same seed mark in the heptathlon.
 
Zarrey Sams looks to make an impact in her first outdoor conference meet as a Shocker as the No. 5 seed in the long jump (6.15m/20'2.25"), No. 7 seed in the triple jump (12.56m/41'2.5") and the No. 10 seed in the 100-meter hurdles (13.70).
 
GO THE DISTANCE
Just outside the scoring in the projections, Abeba Sullivan is seeded ninth in the 1500 meters and 10^th in the 5,000 meters, Sarah Bertry is seeded ninth in the 10,000 meters, and Farrah Miller is seeded 10^th in thee 800 meters, the event she finished on the podium at the indoor championship.