Both Shocker track teams finish in top three, Topham wins MVP at American indoor meet
Wichita State junior Rebekah Topham won the women’s Most Valuable Performance award and both of the Shockers’ track and field teams logged top-three finishes at the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships on Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.
Topham delivered the finest meet performance of her WSU career, winning three gold medals as the Shockers’ women finished third.
She teamed with Yazmine Wright, Trudy Martin and Tianna Holmes to win the distance medley relay on Friday night in 11 minutes, 32.19 seconds, the third-fastest time in program history. Topham then won two individual golds on Saturday, winning the 1-mile race in 4:49.60 and the 3,000-meter race in 9:32.45.
The women’s team also had another individual champion in sophomore Winny Koskei, who completed the trifecta after winning two outdoor titles last spring and the cross country title in the fall. Koskei won the 5,000-meter race in 16:23.64, the first indoor title of her career, then logged a third-place finish in the 3,000 in 9:39.84.
The men finished second behind nationally ranked Houston, highlighted by senior Ben Johnson setting a meet record in his title-winning performance in the heptathlon and senior Zack Penrod winning his second straight 1-mile title. Johnson set a meet record in his 60 hurdles performance of 8.23 and also set a career-best time in the 1,000 in 2:47.70, while Penrod won his mile title in 4:16.58.
WSU racked up the points with a slew of top-three finishes. Jared Belardo ripped off another 51-foot triple jump, as his 51-1.5 mark was runner-up; Newton native Cory Martens set a new personal-best in the weight throw (65-6.25) to take runner-up; Hayden Bugner was second in the pole vault (16-6), Penrod added a third-place finish in the 800 (1:50.58) and Rayvon Allen (24-10, second) and Belardo (24-6.5, third) were back-to-back in the triple jump.
Other scorers for the men’s team included Nathan Wickoren (1-mile, fifth, 4:18.18), Wichita native Kaden Griffin (triple jump, fifth, 49-0.25; long jump, sxith, 23-8), Wichita native Joseph Holthusen (60 hurdles, sixth, 8.12); Mulvane graduate Isaiah Evans (weight throw, sixth, 61-11.5); Jed Helker (1-mile, seventh, 4:19.53), Mason Buckmaster (high jump, seventh, 6-9.5); Allen (triple jump, seventh, 48-3.25), Davis Dubbert (heptathlon, seventh, 4,525); Conway Springs graduate Lucas Shaffer (heptathlon, eighth, 4,350) and Martens (shot put, eighth, 53-7.75).
Other highlights from the women’s team included a trio of third-place finishes by senior Kelsey Slawson (shot put, 51-5.5), freshman Sidney Sapp (high jump, 5-8) and junior Claudia Rojo (pentathlon, 3,749 points). Rojo’s performance was particularly impressive, as she entered ranked ninth in the conference but soared up the list with a career-best mark.
Wright, a Hutchinson native, moved up to No. 5 all-time in WSU history with a 2:11.02 in the 800 to finish sixth. Holmes ran a career-best 55.33 to finish sixth in the 400 and move up to No. 3 all-time. Other scorers include Sydney Wilson (pentathlon, sixth, 3,586), Kendra Henry (pentathlon, seventh, 3,517), Wichita native Amanda Kakoulias (shot put, seventh, 47-9.25) and Alesa Frey (pole vault, eighth, 12-7.25).
This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Both Shocker track teams finish in top three, Topham wins MVP at American indoor meet."
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