Track & Field Gears Up for The American Indoor Championships

Friday, February 23

Birmingham, Ala.

All Day

Tulane University

The American Indoor Championships

Track & Field Gears Up for The American Indoor Championships

Feb 22, 2018 | Women's Track and Field, Track & Field

TULANE GREEN WAVE
Meet:	2018 American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships
When:	Friday, Feb. 23-24 \| Schedule \| Heat Entries
Where:	Birmingham, Ala. \| Birmingham Crossplex
Live Results:	Roll Wave!
Live Stream:	American Digital Network - Day One \| Day Two
Social Media:	Hashtags: #RollWave \| #AmericanITF Twitter: @GreenWaveXCTF \| @AmericanXCTrack Facebook: @GreenWaveXCTF \| @American_Conf Instagram: @GreenWaveXCTF \| @American_Conf
Meet Central:	Tulane Performance List \| The American Performance List \| Championship Central

NEW ORLEANS - It all comes down to this. The American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships are here.

Tulane track and field heads to Birmingham, Ala., Feb. 23-24 for the indoor conference championships, which is held at the Birmingham Crossplex for the third consecutive year. Events begin at 9 a.m. Friday with the pentathlon and continue through Saturday, with the awards ceremony closing the competition at 3:20 p.m.

A live stream is provided by The American Digital Network while live results are posted through XPressTiming.com.

ABOUT THE MEET
This year, the women's field features 12 teams as Wichita State participates in the indoor championships for the first time since joining the conference. The 12 squads will battle for for team, individual and relay titles. Team scoring (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1) is in effect throughout the competition, with the most points earning that team the conference title. The Top 3 finishers in each event will earn all-conference honors.

Tulane athletes will compete in 13 total track and field events, including the women's 400m, women's one mile run, women's 3000m run, women's 5000m run, women's 60m hurdles, women's 4x400m relay, women's distance medley relay (DMR), women's high jump, women's pole vault, women's long jump, women's triple jump, women's weight throw and the women's pentathlon.

HEAR IT FROM THE COACHES
"Going into this championship, we're relying heavily on our depth. We're really going to be led by our depth in the 60m hurdles and the pole vault. How our team does will be directly related to how we do in those two events. They've been our anchor events throughout the season and that will be the case going into this championship. Looking at the entire conference, I think we have a really good chance to place in the Top 5, which is a similar position to the position we were in one year ago going into the indoor championships. Our team has changed a lot since then, and I think almost 30 points from last year's team graduated. We've done a good job of replacing that, and we look forward to the challenge of repeating that kind of team performance this year. We have a very young team, and we have a relatively small team, but we've had a good season and look to finish strong. We're going to go up there, compete well and see where the chips fall." -Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Eric Peterson

"There's a lot of inexperience with my group, given that five of the seven are freshman. The pole vault is going to be our anchor, as Rebekah is a junior and has had a good indoor season. She had her best meet of the year in Albuquerque. Although she jumped 4.15m in New York and 4.10m in New Mexico, she was actually way better in Albuquerque. Sometimes the bar stays up, sometimes it doesn't. Her training has been outstanding, and I really think she'll do well. She's ranked second in the conference going into this weekend, and I think that if she goes in and jumps the way she's capable of, she has a reasonable chance to win." -Associate Head Coach Doug Fraley

"I think that my group has a great opportunity to score very high and land on the podium. The hurdlers are currently ranked second, third and fourth, and I think they can all go in there and all get on the podium. I was very excited by the way they competed in New Mexico, and I think it was a breakthrough for them. If they're going to compete with the freshman from Houston [who holds the top mark in the 60m hurdles], they're going to need really outstanding performances. They're looking great in practice, and I think they're ready to do that." -Assistant Coach Hasani Roseby

"We're excited about how this indoor season has progressed. The team ran well in cross country, and it's a quick progression to the indoor season. Lauren has had two good indoor 5Ks this season, and we're really looking forward to her contending for a podium spot for the first time in her career. The other important event for us is going to be the distance medley relay. Instead of focusing on individual events in day one, we're putting Mckenzie, Paige and Emma all on the distance medley relay to see how high we place in the event. Emma's going to be anchoring that relay. She's had a strong indoor season, so hopefully she can continue that success and run competitive marks to place us pretty high." -Assistant Coach Michael Nussa

THE TOP OF THE PACK
Tulane holds six Top 5 regular season performances marks in the American Athletic Conference heading into the championships:
400m - No. 5 Maya Harewood (55.73) - LSU Bayou Bengal
60H - No. 2 Jessica Duckett (8.36) - Don Kirby Invitational, No. 3 Brandi Hughes (8.38) - Don Kirby Invitiational, No. 4 Kyah Loyd (8.51) - LSU Purple Tiger
4x400m - No. 5 Tulane - Jessica Duckett, Maya Harewood, Brandi Hughes, Kyah Loyd (3:46.84)
Pole Vault - No. 2 Rebekah Markel (4.15m) - Dr. Sander Invitational

SELFORS WINS AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:
The American Athletic Conference named freshman Bridgid Selfors Female Track Athlete of the Week, for the week ending Feb. 18.

Selfors won the 3,000m run at the LSU Twilight Invitational in Baton Rouge, La., to close out the Green Wave's indoor regular season. Competing on a flat track, Selfors earned a first-place finish with a time of 10:15.97 (10:14.18 converted), recording her second event title of the season. Earlier this season at LSU's Bayou Bengal, Selfors finished first in the 3000m with a time of 10:10.06.

LAST YEAR AT THE AMERICAN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tulane opened last season's indoor conference championships with a bang, finishing the first day of the competition in first place, before closing out the indoor season with a fifth-place team finish with a score of 51 points. Then-freshman Maya Harewood notched a time of 56.09 in the 400m to qualify for the event final, where she placed eighth (56.16).

That same day, then-sophomore Jessica Duckett set the previous school record in the 60m hurdles with her time of 8.44, qualify for event finals. Duckett finished second (8.44) in the finals to earn a silver medal while then-freshman Brandi Hughes also landed on the podium, clinching the bronze with her finals time of 8.48.

Freshman Sarah Cella finished eighth in the 800m prelims, guaranteeing herself a spot in the final, where she came away with a seventh-place finish (2:16.12).

ROLL WITH THE GREEN WAVE
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Entries for 2018 American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships
Ordered by start time

Friday, Feb. 23
Pentathlon (60m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, Long Jump, 800m Run)
Pauline Helm

Women's Long Jump (trials & final)
Flight 1
Danielle Wember

Women's Pole Vault (trials & final)
Rose Brutkiewicz
Rebekah Markel
Kristina Leggas

Women's Weight Throw (trials & final)
Flight 1
Jackie Esmay
Nicole Kauffman

Women's 1 Mile Run (trials)
Heat 1
Jennifer LaMori

Heat 2
Rachel Maue

Women's 60m Hurdles (trials)
Heat 2
Brandi Hughes
Kyah Loyd

Heat 3
Jessica Duckett

Women's 400m Dash (trials)
Heat 1
Kyra Ness-Lanckriet

Heat 6
Jessica Duckett

Heat 8
Maya Harewood

Women's 5,000m Run (final)
Section 1
Bridgid Selfors

Section 2
Lauren Bartels

Women's Distance Medley Relay (final)
Tulane - Mckenzie Melius, Paige Fatland, TBD, Emma Newton

Saturday, Feb. 24
Women's High Jump (trials & final)
Emma King

Women's Triple Jump (trials & final)
Flight 1
Jordyn Lesh

Women's 1 Mile Run (final)
TBD

Women's 60m Hurdles (final)
TBD

Women's 400m Dash (final)
TBD

Women's 3000m Run (final)
Section 1
Mary Catherine Stovall
Rachel Maue
Mckenzie Melius
Jennifer LaMori

Section 2
Lauren Bartels
Bridgid Selfors

Section 3
Emma Newton

Women's 4x400 Relay (final)
Tulane - Jessica Duckett, Maya Harewood, Brandi Hughes, Kyah Loyd