Hilltoppers Claim Nine Event Final Spots on Day One of C-USA Championships

Saturday, February 17

Birmingham, Ala.

Western Kentucky University

C-USA Indoor Championships

Hilltoppers Claim Nine Event Final Spots on Day One of C-USA Championships

2/17/2018 8:59:00 PM | Track & Field

Day 1 Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In the opening day from the 2018 Conference USA Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships, WKU squad saw Hilltoppers qualify for nine spots in Sunday's event finals. The Red and White posted three new season-best outings from both the men's and women's sides and are still capable of repeating as champions in all three events in which the team is defending titles: men's 60-meter hurdles, men's 4x400-meter relay and women's pole vault.

"We had several personal-best performances today, but more importantly, we had several student-athletes advance to the C-USA Indoor Championship finals tomorrow," head coach Erik Jenkins shared.

Halfway through the Championships, Charlotte leads the men's team standings with 47.5 points while Middle Tennessee is in the lead on the women's side with 35 points. The WKU men have collected four points through one day of competition while the Lady Toppers are still looking to break into the scoring.

With a preliminary time of 8.00 in the 60-meter hurdles, Jonathan Hayden earned himself a spot in the event finals for a chance to defend his 2017 indoor crown in the discipline. The senior's preliminary mark ranked second across the field, behind only UTSA's Patrick Prince's mark of 7.94.

In the men's 60-meter competition, WKU saw two Hilltoppers earn spots in Sunday's final. Eli Minor clocked the second-best prelim reading with a 6.68 – the fastest time by a Hilltopper this season - while Julius Morris turned in a 6.73 mark for the fifth best showing. McKinley West of Southern Miss posted the top prelim time in the event with a 6.67.

The Hilltoppers saw representatives from both the men's and women's squads earn spots in Sunday's 200-meter dash finals, running the best time of the year in the event on both sides. In the women's competition, Juannae Lewis earned herself a spot in the finals after running a 24.63 prelim mark to lock up the last spot in Sunday's race. In the men's race, Morris turned in the top prelim time on the board with a 20.96 – the only sub-21.00 mark recorded on the day. Minor also earned himself another run in the 200 after clocking a 21.50.

WKU posted four of the top nine times in the men's 400-meter dash preliminaries. Oliver Alexandre led the way for the Red and White with a time of 48.32. Charles Shimukowa and Kymari Gates both turned in runs of 48.58 to earn spots in the finals while Austin Hayes just missed the cut with a 48.80.

With a season-best time of 10:17.05, the WKU men's distance medley relay unit of Taylor Scarbrough, Alec Tanksley, Denzel Villaman and Julien Cuyeu collected a fifth place finish. The unit bettered WKU's top mark in the event by more than 29 seconds, recording the third-fastest mark in Hilltopper indoor program history.

Brianna Wolken turned in a personal-record 19:31.37 in the 5000-meter race, which doubles as the Lady Toppers' best time in the event in 2018.

The Lady Toppers' distance medley relay team also set a season-best time, running a 12:28.81; Rebecca Cook, Aairiona Hayden-Ransom, Ariel Terrell and Savannah Ames teamed up in the relay.

Championship action from the Birmingham CrossPlex will conclude on Sunday. Competition will begin at 9 a.m. CT, with remaining heptathlon events while field events will resume at 11 a.m. Starting at 1 p.m., the finals for the remainder of the running events begin with the mile and end with the 4x400-meter relay. ESPN3 coverage will be available beginning at 2 p.m. CT. An awards presentation will commence at 4:15 p.m.

How to follow WKU Track & Field: For complete information on WKU Track & Field, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUTrackField.