Rotich Wins 5K, Nine Others Score on Final Day of League Championships

Photo by: ©Kelly Ross

Rotich Wins 5K, Nine Others Score on Final Day of League Championships

May 12, 2019 | Track & Field

Men's Results | Women's Results

WICHITA, Kan. – The Green Wave track & field team had a stellar final day at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Sunday at Cessna Stadium, posting 10 scoring efforts, three appearances on the podium and a few marks that might help student-athletes get into the NCAA East Regional in two weeks.

Emmanuel Rotich won the 5K in the second-to-last event of the night, marking his second consecutive night winning a distance race after claiming the 3K steeplechase crown on Saturday night. For scoring 20 points in his two races, Rotich was named the meet's Co-MVP.

Maya Harewood (400) and Kyah Loyd (100 hurdles) were Tulane's other medalists on the podium with both earning bronze medals.

"I'm pleasantly surprised with how productive our two teams were here at this championship this year," said Eric Peterson, Tulane's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field. "I'm proud that we're showing some balance and getting strong contributions from every area. That's progress. That's the most important thing."

As a team, the Green Wave women finished in ninth place with 50 points while the men were eighth place with 33 points.

ROTICH WINS ANOTHER TITLE
About 24 hours after winning the 3K steeplechase, Rotich made it two titles in his last-ever conference meet when he cruised to the 5K crown as well.

Rotich stayed comfortably in the lead group for the majority of the race, hanging behind Tulane's Benjamin Preisner for 4,600 meters. But once the bell lap sounded, Rotich smiled and took the race over.

The Green Wave senior passed Preisner on the first turn of the final lap and built a comfortable lead over the final 300 meters, coasting to a three-second victory with a time of 14:08.87.

"He's a great champion," Peterson said. "He has proven that over and over again with his ability to manage the American Athletic Conference level of competition. I couldn't be more proud of him than I am tonight."

Rotich's 5K was just his second ever at The American's championship event. He ran the race as a freshman in 2016 and placed seventh, but as a senior he had no equal. This 5K was just his third all season and his fastest of the season by seven seconds.

Also running in the 5K for Tulane were Evans Kipchumba who took 20th in 15:10.53 and Carlos Zervigon who placed 26th in 15:29.56.

BRONZE MEDALS FOR LOYD, HAREWOOD
Loyd was Tulane's first presence on the podium Sunday, placing third in the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.76 seconds. Loyd, a sophomore, earned All-Conference status in the event for the second consecutive year and scored six points for the Green Wave.

Just about half an hour later, Maya Harewood earned herself a spot on the podium for the second straight year as well, placing third for the bronze medal in the 400. Harewood flew through the finish line in 53.67 seconds, shattering her personal best – a mark she set yesterday at 54.02 seconds – by 0.35 seconds. Harewood's bronze earned six points for Tulane, and her time of 53.67 puts her right on the edge of qualification for the NCAA East Regional.

Harewood's time is also now the eighth-fastest outdoor time n the history of Tulane track & field.

Also scoring for Tulane in the 400 was freshman Tahja Mitchell, running a seventh-place time of 55.06 seconds for two more Green Wave points in her freshman year.

MORE SCORING EFFORTS
Trina Malej was the second Tulane competitor on the day with the triple jump, and she set a new personal best twice in one event. After starting with a distance of 12.09 meters on her first attempt, she reached a new best of 12.51 meters on her second jump to earn herself a spot in the event finals.

At sixth place going into the finals, Malej saved her best for last.

The freshman proceeded to jump 12.67 meters (41-7) on her final attempt of the day, moving up from eighth to fourth and breaking her personal best for the second time on the day. Malej scored five points for the Green Wave with that distance and likely booked herself a spot in the NCAA East Regional to boot.

Freshman Jorien Vallien got the day started with two new personal bests as well and a scoring effort in the high jump. The freshman, who started Sunday with a best of 1.95 meters, got over 1.91 meters on his first attempt of the day, then calmly cleared 1.96 on his first try as well.

About 10 minutes later, Vallien soared over the bar at 2.01 meters (6-7) to post his second personal best of the day and earn himself a seventh-place finish. That got the Green Wave men two points to begin the afternoon.

Later in the high jump, freshman Olivia Hicks scored for the Green Wave, clearing heights of 1.60 meters and 1.64 meters (5-4.5) on her first attempts. With nine different jumpers failing at the next height of 1.68 meters, Hicks' clearance on her first try at 1.64 meters was good enough to tie her for sixth place in the event and earn two points for Tulane.

"The number of freshmen we had contribute to this team, I don't think we've ever had that before," Peterson said. "We knew we had a good recruiting class, but there's some proof in that statement by having so many young kids and first-time kids competitors at this level contribute."

Also in the high jump was Emma King, who got over 1.60 meters (5-3) on her first try to finish in 15th place.

Devin Glenn, Corey Dauphine, Jaetavian Toles and Jalen LaCour raced to a fifth-place showing in the men's 4x100 relay, taking four points for Tulane. The group came in with a time of 41.10 seconds, knocking .20 seconds off its previous season best. That time is the new 10th-best in program history.

In the women's 4x100 relay, the team of Loyd, Harewood, Oneke Gwan and Mitchell placed sixth for Tulane and scored three more Green Wave points. The quartet crossed the finish line in 46.00 seconds, its fastest time of the season by .06 seconds.

That same group completed the night with the 4x400 relay, taking fifth this time with a mark of 3:43.16. Harewood, Mitchell, Gwan and Loyd scored four more points for the Green Wave, bringing Loyd's contributions on the day up to 13 total points.

Tom Coe had a tremendous finish to the 1500, taking seventh place in 3:56.81 one day after taking 10th place in the prelims. The graduate student hung back in 11th place for the first three laps but pushed forward four places over the last 300 meters.

After running the third 400 meters in 1:06.07, Coe kicked into high gear in the final lap, completing that lap with a time of 1:01.79 – the sixth-fastest final lap in the field.

In the women's side of the 1500, Jennifer LaMori entered the race as the No. 12 runner but improved on that to finish 11th place in 4:47.02.

LaMori wasn't done with her day, though, as she ran in the 5K to end her career later in the night. The senior broke the 18-minute mark with a time of 17:59.30 for 25th place, a huge personal record after she had never even gone below 19 minutes in her career. Racing in just the second 5K of her Tulane career, she knocked 73 seconds off previous time from the conference championship last season.

Also running the 5K was Mary Catherine Stovall, whose time of 18:30.83 put her in 30th place. That time was the second fastest in her career.

Next up for Tulane will be the NCAA East Regionals in Jacksonville, Florida, from May 23-25. Qualified athletes for the regional meet will be announced by the NCAA on Thursday at noon.

Expected to qualify for Tulane will be Rotich in the steeplechase, Rebekah Markel, Alex Potts and Nastja Modic in the pole vault and Malej in the triple jump. Harewood (400), Mckenzie Melius (steeplechase) and Loyd (100h) could also qualify but will have closer calls on Thursday when the NCAA makes its announcement.