BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Wichita State track and field is set to compete at the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
 
The meet will be streamed on ESPN+ with live results available on Xpress Timing.
 
Action begins Friday at 9 a.m. with the pentathlon 60-meter hurdles. Field events begin at noon with the men's high jump, running events hit the track at 1:05 p.m., starting with the mile prelims.
 
Saturday's meet day starts at 9:45 a.m. with the heptathlon hurdles. Field events start at 10:30 a.m. with the women's high jump, and running event finals kick off at 12:05 p.m. with the mile.
 
The top three athletes in each event make the podium, earning all-conference recognition.
 
The top eight athletes in each event score points toward the team total on the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system.
 
Team champions will be crowned after the 4x400-meter relays at 3:50 p.m. CT.
 
MEN
 
USTFCCCA CONFERENCE STANDINGS (based on full TFRRS performance chart, not championship start lists)

1. Charlotte
2. South Florida
3. Wichita State
4. UTSA
5. Rice
6. North Texas
7. Tulsa
8. East Carolina
9. Memphis

 
CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM PROJECTIONS (based on championship start lists and TFRRS standings)

1. South Florida
2. Charlotte
3. UTSA
4. Rice
5. Tulsa
6. Wichita State
7. North Texas
8. Memphis
9. East Carolina

 
SHOCKER PODIUM WATCH

• Jaleel Montgomery leads the conference in the 60-meter hurdles with a season- and personal-best time of 7.79, which he recorded at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.
• Montgomery is the lone Shocker man to lead the AAC in an event going into the championship meet.
• Josh Parrish is seeded just outside the podium in the hurdles, ranking fourth with a time of 7.90 in the season opener. He is just 0.01 seconds behind East Carolina's Terence Booth.
• Only six athletes have run sub-eight seconds, and Parrish has run under eight seconds six times this season as a freshman.
• A men's 60-meter hurdles win would be the Shockers' first-ever AAC title in the event and first conference title (MVC) in the event since Todd McKown in 2012.
• Brady Palen ranks second in the conference in the high jump with a clearance of 2.17m/7'1.5", just one centimeter behind Rice's Ese Amata. Palen has finished second in the last two AAC indoor high jump competitions and seeks his first AAC title in the event.
• A high jump win would be the Shockers' first AAC title in the event and first conference title (MVC) in the event since Kerry Graber in 2013.
• Adria Navajon, the reigning AAC heptathlon champion, going back-to-back in 2022 and 2023, enters the meet seeded second behind Rice's freshman Vincent Arousell. Navajon's personal best from a season ago is better than Arousell's, so the title will go to whoever can put together a full multi.
• Hudson Bailey is ranked third in the heptathlon going into the meet and is looking for his first-ever conference podium finish.
• In the long jump, Shockers Yuben Goncalves and Navajon rank just outside the podium in fourth and fifth, respectively. UTSA's Gabriel Binion leads the conference in the event by a foot. Navajon placed fourth in the event in 2022 eighth last season.
• The Wichita State 4x400-meter relay team has finished third in the last two indoor championships after being seeded third in 2023 and sixth in 2022.

 
SHOCKERS AT THE AAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
2023 – 4^th – 102 points
2022 – 3^rd – 115 points
2021 – No championship
2020 – 5^th – 59 points
2019 – 2^nd – 107 points
2018 – 3^rd – 103 points
 
ROAD TO BOSTON
With the top-16 marks in each event qualifying to the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, Wichita State currently doesn't have any men set to go to nationals, but Brady Palen sits in 25^th I the high jump going into conference and has yet to reach his personal best mark this season. Palen qualified to the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships where he placed seventh, earning First Team All-America recognition.
 
SHOCKERS IN THE NCAA TOP 50
Brady Palen – No. 25 – high jump – 2.17m/7'1.5"
Jaleel Montgomery – No. 43 – 60-meter hurdles – 7.79

---

WOMEN
 
USTFCCCA CONFERENCE STANDINGS (based on full TFRRS performance chart, not championship start lists)

1. Charlotte
2. South Florida
3. Rice
4. East Carolina
5. SMU
6. Wichita State
7. UTSA
8. North Texas
9. Tulsa
10. Tulane
11. Memphis
12. Temple
13. Florida Atlantic
14. UAB

 
CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM PROJECTIONS (based on championship start lists and TFRRS standings)

1. Charlotte
2. Rice
3. South Florida
4. SMU
5. Wichita State
6. East Carolina
7. Tulane
8. Tulsa
9. North Texas
10. UTSA
11. Memphis
12. Temple
13. Florida Atlantic
14. UAB

 
SHOCKER PODIUM WATCH

• Destiny Masters leads the conference in the high jump with a season- and personal-best clearance of 1.85m/6'0.75", which she recorded during the K-State Multis pentathlon.
• Masters is the lone Shocker woman to lead the AAC in an event going into the championship meet.
• Masters enters the championships meet ranked second in the 60-meter hurdles, second in the pentathlon and fifth in the long jump but will be competing in the individual events after completing a full pentathlon. The hurdles prelim and long jump will take place on the same day as the pentathlon and high jump will be on day two.
• Farrah Miller ranks third in the conference in the 800 meters after finishing third at last year's AAC Indoor Championships with a personal-best time of 2:07.61 from the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. The top three times in the conference are within one second of each other with Rice's Taigen Hunter-Galvan at 2:07.11 and Tulane's Janae Dean at 2:07.34. Miller could claim the Shockers' first-ever AAC 800-meter title and first conference title in the event since Danielle Walker in 2012.
• Chidera Okoro looks to score points for the first time in her career and will aim for the podium in the long jump as one of four AAC athletes who have broken the 6-meter barrier this season. She is seeded fourth with Masters right behind her in fifth. The pair is slated to score nine points in the event, and Okoro is also ranked seeded seventh in the triple jump.
• The Wichita State 4x400-meter relay seeks to match or surpass its best AAC Indoor Championship finish in the event, ranking fourth entering the race. The Shockers best finish in this conference came in 2018 when they placed fourth.

 
SHOCKERS AT THE AAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
2023 – 10^th – 25.75 points
2022 – 10^th – 31.5 points
2021 – No championship
2020 – 5^th – 59 points
2019 – 3^rd – 84 points
2018 – 12^th – 16.3 points
 
ROAD TO BOSTON
With the top-16 marks in each event qualifying to the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, Wichita State currently has one athlete within the qualifying range in two events.
 
Destiny Masters ranks No. 7 in the pentathlon and ties for No. 11 in the high jump.
 
SHOCKERS IN THE NCAA TOP 50
Destiny Masters – No. 7 – pentathlon – 4,211 points
Destiny Masters – No. 11 – high jump – 1.85m/6'0.75"