Track And Field Preview: The American Championships

Friday, February 22

Birmingham, Ala.

All Day

University of Memphis

American Athletic Indoor Championships

Photo by: Jimmy Mitchell

Track And Field Preview: The American Championships

Feb 21, 2019 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

American Athletic Conference Championships (Men's Heat Sheets)American Athletic Conference Championships (Women's Heat Sheets)

Tigers to battle for league titles in Birmingham this weekend.

Live Results
Live Coverage/American Digital Network (ADN)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis track and field team makes its second trip to Birmingham, Ala., in the last four weeks, this time for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Championships Friday-Saturday, Feb. 22-23.
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The action takes place at the Birmingham Crossplex, which also is the host for the 2019 NCAA Championships in early March. The American Athletic Conference Championships meet kicks off at 9 a.m. (CT) both Friday and Saturday.

Memphis is one of two league schools that competed at the Birmingham Crossplex earlier this indoor season. The Tigers won nine titles and had 26 top-three performances in South Alabama's Jaguar Invitational Feb. 3. USF is the other conference school to visit the Birmingham Crossplex prior to this weekend's championships, as the Bulls competed in the Feb. 8 Samford Invitational.

Head Coach Kevin Robinson comments
(On the championships; going back to Birmingham)
"My junior, seniors, veteran athletes have been on this track six or eight times throughout their careers, so they know exactly what to expect. Our entire team has been there (Birmingham Crossplex) at least once, and that was the purpose of our earlier meet in Birmingham. So, we're prepared to handle the facility.

"We just have to go in and compete. We have to step up and perform. We can't be consumed with what's going on around us. We can't allow the level of competition around us dictate how we compete. We have to go do our job, and if we do that, we'll be ok. It's a matter of us doing what we're capable of.

"I'm anxious, nervous, but also confident. We have good kids who are motivated and focused. We'll go in and hopefully perform at a high level."

Team Scoring
The 2019 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships is a scoring team meet.

Competing Schools
Women: Cincinnati, Connecticut, ECU, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, USF, Wichita State
Men: Cincinnati, Connecticut, ECU, Houston, Memphis, Tulsa, USF, Wichita State

Tigers Tidbits

The Tigers men's squad is looking to build off its runner-up finish of a year ago, the program's best indoor conference championships performance since it won the 1959 Tennessee Interscholastic Athletic Conference (TIAC) title.
The Memphis women's squad's top finish since joining The American in 2013 was a fifth-place showing at the 2015 championships.
Memphis returns six All-American Athletic Conference performers from the 2018 league meet. They are Noah Agnew (men's high jump), Calvin Austin III (men's 200m/men's 4x400m relay), Saida Burns-Moore (women's high jump), Davon DeMoss (men's 200m/men's 4x400m relay), DeeNia McMiller (women's weight throw) and Adam Neelly (men's shot put).
Davon DeMoss is vying for titles in the men's 60 and 200 meters. He enters the championships ranked among the top-five in the league in the 60 (2^nd; 6.61) and 200 (5^th; 21.10) meters. Both are school records, including his 200-meters time set at the Birmingham Crossplex Feb. 3.
Saida Burns-Moore also is looking for two titles in the high and triple jumps. She enters this weekend ranked second in the triple jump (42-8.25; 13.01m) and third in the high jump (5-9.25; 1.76m). Her triple jump mark is a school record, which she set two weeks ago at Vanderbilt's Music City Challenge.
DeeNia McMiller is ranked in the top-five in both the shot put (5^th) and weight throw (3^rd) in The American entering the championships. She has re-set her school record in the weight throw four times this indoor season, the last a 66-11.25 (20.40m) effort at the Jan. 20 A-State Invitational.
The Tigers men's squad returns two performers that missed the 2018 championships in Olushola Olojo and Jordan Wesner. Olojo won the 2017 triple jump crown and finished runner-up in both the long and triple jumps at the 2016 conference meet. Wesner took the 2017 high jump title and placed runner-up in the event in 2016.

Tigers Records Set In 2018-19
Men
Davon DeMoss – 60m (6.61), 200m (21.10)
Julian Sanchez-Pinto – 5000m (14:31.49)
Jordan Wesner – high jump (7-4.5; 2.25m)
Women
Saida Burns-Moore – triple jump (42-8.25; 13.01m)
DeeNia McMiller – weight throw (66-11; 20.40m)

Tigers In the Nation's Top-50
Men
Davon DeMoss – 60m (10^th), 200m (45^th)
Sir Newton Lee – 400m (48^th)
Jordan Wesner – high jump (8^th)
Olushola Olojo – triple jump (42^nd)
4x400m relay (43^rd)

Women
Saida Burns-Moore – high jump (47^th), triple jump (23^rd)
DeeNia McMiller – weight throw (29^th)