This week, The Hullabaloo travels to Birmingham, Alabama, where the Tulane track and field team recently competed in the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship.

University of Houston

At this year’s championships, Houston took home the title in both the men’s and women’s categories with a total 159.5 and 98 points respectively.

Leading the team to victory, the Houston men’s sprint team monopolized the top three times in the 60-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter events with only two spots in these events going to non-Houston runners.

Houston found similar success in the women’s short distance events. Junior Brianne Bethel won and broke the meet record in the 200-meter dash while also finishing a close second in the 60-meter event. Other wins for Houston include the women’s weight throw, women’s long jump and women’s 60-meter hurdles.

University of Memphis

Memphis senior Davon Demoss was able to secure the second-place finish ahead of Houston’s Travis Collins by a margin of .04 seconds in the 60-meter. Memphis again was able to sneak into the top three in the 400-meter event when sophomore Newton Lee finished with an impressive 46.79 seconds for third place.

Memphis’s pair of top-three finishes in the men’s short distance events by Demoss and Lee was a vital part of their battle for second place in the men’s standing with Wichita State. Unfortunately, this was not enough as they fell by one point, 106 to the Shockers’ 107.

Other highlights from Memphis’s weekend include their first place in the men’s distance medley and a first and second place sweep in the men’s high jump.

Wichita State

Wichita State’s impressive third-place finish in the women’s standings stemmed from a strong performance by sophomore Winny Koskei and junior Rebekah Topham. Koskei ended the weekend with a first-place finish in the women’s 5000-meter run and third in the 3000-meter event. Topham had the fastest time in the 3000-meter run with 9:32.45. She also finished first in the one-mile run and received the Women’s Most Valuable Indoor Performance Award.

University of Tulsa

Tulsa’s best events were the men’s 3000- and 5000-meter runs as senior Benjamin Preisner and freshman Scott Beattie took first and second place in both events. A third-place finish in both the men’s and women’s distance medley and a second-place runner in the men’s 800-meter round out Tulsa’s highlights for the weekend.

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati found success in the women’s high jump and triple jump events. Senior Loretta Blaut won her third straight high jump championship with a jump of 1.82 meters. Junior Irati Mitxelena also defended her title by winning the women’s triple jump for the second year in a row. Cincinnati finished second in the women’s championship standings and fourth in the men’s championship standings.

Tulane University

The Tulane women’s team finished ninth with 35 points overall. The Green Wave swept the women’s pole vault event with athletes securing first, second, and third places. Tulane sophomore Rebekah Markel finished first while also breaking the meet record with a vault of 4.23 meters.

Tulane freshmen Alex Potts and Nastja Modic took second and third places both with scores of 3.99 meters. Junior Brandi Hughes finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.43 seconds.

The men’s track team does not participate in indoor meets. Tulane track’s next appearance will be at the Southeastern Louisiana Invitational on March 2. This will be the first outdoor meet of the season.