Markel, Rotich Claim Conference Titles on Day 2 in Wichita

Markel, Rotich Claim Conference Titles on Day 2 in Wichita

May 11, 2019 | Track & Field

Men's Results | Women's Results

WICHITA, Kan. – Rebekah Markel defended her pole vault indoor conference championship on Saturday, and she did it with style. Emmanuel Rotich, meanwhile, won his second conference crown in the 3K steeplechase in convincing fashion.

Together, the pair put a cherry on top of a great day for the Green Wave track & field team at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at Cessna Stadium.

On the day, Tulane had two event victories, two school records, five scoring efforts and five athletes qualify for Sunday's finals.

Through two days of the league championship, the Green Wave women are in fifth with 22 points while the men are in eighth with a score of 15 points.

MARKEL WINS POLE VAULT
Markel, a Green Wave senior, broke the school and stadium record in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.31 meters (14-1.75) to claim the outdoor conference crown.

The event win – Markel's sixth of the outdoor season and fourth straight – saw her eclipse the previous Tulane record of 4.30 meters set by Alyssa Applebee in 2017.

"It feels really good," Markel said. "I've actually been trying to get over 14 feet all outdoor season and I just keep hitting the bar with my arm every time. But it felt really good to make it at conference and to win again."

Markel came in as the clear favorite in the event after her dominant performance at the indoor conference championship. After passing on the first two heights, she made it clear she would not be beat Saturday by calmly clearing 3.91 meters and 4.01 meters on her first tries. She was the only jumper to get over 4.01 meters in one attempt, and she had the event won at that point.

After the other remaining two athletes failed at 4.06 meters, Markel upped the bar to 4.16 meters and got over that on her first try as well. The clearance of 4.31 meters took two tries, but she was smooth over the bar once again in setting the new school record.

"I'm just really proud of her and this whole group of vaulters for the year that they've had so far," said Tulane associate head coach Doug Fraley. "Specifically Rebekah, she won this thing like it was her business. She basically had it won after two jumps, and it's really difficult at that point to stay up to continue to try to jump higher when you've won and nobody else is in it.

"The next big thing on our checklist was breaking the outdoor school record, so that was a big goal for this meet besides winning, and she took care of that."

Markel attempted 4.40 meters next but just missed on her third try, ending her day. Still, her 4.31 meters moves her up to a tie for seventh in the region and 15th in the nation entering the day.

Teammate Nastja Modic took third place by getting over 4.01 meters on her final attempt, scoring six points for the Green Wave. Alex Potts was seventh with a clearance of 3.81 meters for seventh place and two points, and Rose Brutkiewicz ended her Green Wave career with a clearance of 3.66 meters earlier for 11th place.

Potts and Modic are safely in the NCAA East Regional with earlier clearances of 4.05 meters and 4.03 meters, respectively.

ROTICH CLAIMS STEEPLECHASE CROWN
Emmanuel Rotich won the conference steeplechase title as a sophomore in 2017 but was second as a junior and freshman.

On Saturday, he left no doubt.

Rotich hung with the lead group for the first five laps and then pulled ahead into a top-two group with Memphis' Julien Sanchez-Pinto. After 2600 meters, Rotich trailed Pinto by two tenths of a second.

But as soon as that final lap began, Rotich rocketed ahead, outkicking Sanchez-Pinto. Rotich turned on the jets over the final 400 meters, pulling away for a three-second victory in a time of 8:56.39.

"Emmanuel has had a good season, and he was really excited about coming into this meet today and trying to win this championship like he did as a sophomore," said Eric Peterson, Tulane's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field. "I'm pleased he ran a very controlled race and finished fast, and I think the result is really what he was hoping for."

Rotich entered the weekend already assured of a berth in the NCAA East Regional with a time of 8:41.05 set at the Payton Jordan Invitational in California in early May.

Also impressive in the steeplechase was senior Mckenzie Melius, who may have ensured that Saturday's race was not the last of her career.

Melius led for the first half of the race before falling back a bit, but she still blew away her old personal best and broke her own school record with a fifth-place finish in 10:27.88. Her school record, set last May, was 10:33.15.

Entering the day, a time of 10:27.88 would put Melius 45th in the NCAA East Region, and the top 48 athletes qualify for the meet in Jacksonville, Florida, in two weeks.

TULANE ATHLETES QUALIFY FOR FINALS
Besides the big wins in the finals of the pole vault and steeplechase, other Tulane student-athletes ensured they would race again Sunday with strong showings in event semifinals on Saturday.

Kyah Loyd was impressive, winning her heat and placing second overall in the 100 hurdles. The sophomore ran the race in 13.70 seconds, beating out the closest competition in her heat by a quarter of a second.

Jennifer LaMori set a new personal record and earned the final qualifying spot in the 1500, finishing 12th with a time of 4:38.45. Her previous personal record was 4:39.86. Reid Belanger was 27th in 5:05.28.

On the men's side, Tom Coe punched his ticket to Sunday's final as well, placing 10th in the field in 3:55.91. Pierce Hill was 21st in 4:16.33.

Maya Harewood and Tahja Mitchell both booked their spots in Sunday's final for the 400-meter dash as well. Harewood had the fastest time among non-heat winners, entering the final with a fifth-place standing in 54.02 seconds, a new personal record. Mitchell snagged the final qualifying spot with a race of 55.18 seconds.

Kyra Ness-Lanckriet also ran in the 400, placing 24th in 57.74 seconds. Oneke Gwan finished 26th in 59.23 seconds.

The day began with Danielle Wember concluding her season in the long jump. The sophomore reached 5.17 meters (16-11.5) on her first jump and nearly equaled it with her second at 5.14 meters. She would finish 11th in her flight and 26th overall on the day.

Later in the 100, Aldrianna Dupree ended her freshman year with a time of 12.48 seconds for 24th place.

For the men in the 100, Corey Dauphine took 14th in 10.71 seconds, Devin Glenn was 15th in 10.74 seconds, Jaetavian Toles was 21st in 11.05 seconds to tie his personal best, Jalen LaCour took 22nd in 11.24 seconds and Cameron Carroll placed 23rd in 11.29 seconds for a new personal best.

The conference championship meet concludes on Sunday with the finals of the 100 hurdles, 400 and 1500 along with the 4x100 relay, the 4x400 relay and the 5K races. In the field, Tulane will participate in the high jumps and the women's triple jump to start things off in the early afternoon.