Tulsa Men in Second Place, Women Fourth at American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships

Friday, February 23

Birmingham, Ala.

Tulsa

The American Indoor Championships

Photo by: Michael Wade

Tulsa Men in Second Place, Women Fourth at American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships

2/23/2024 9:21:00 PM | Track and Field

Day 1 Men Results (PDF)Day 1 Women Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Seven finals qualifiers, six all-conference recipients, three champions and one meet record highlight the Tulsa track teams' first day Friday at the American Athletic Conference Indoor Track Championships in the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala. After a full day of competition, the men sit in second place with 37 team points, while the women are fourth with 27 points.

Women
Redshirt senior Katharina Pesendorfer and freshman Amy Morefield kicked things off for Tulsa in the preliminary round of the mile run. Needing to place among the top three in each of the two heats to qualify for Saturday's final, Pesendorfer took second in the first heat in 4:57.76 followed by a third-place heat finish by Morefield in 4:59.76.

In the 400-meter dash, Elizabeth Roca zoomed to a personal-best 53.97 finish to win her heat outright and finish second among 29 competitors to advance to the final on Saturday.

Sophomore Sarah Hosey became Tulsa's fourth finals qualifier when she finished the 800-meters in 2:13.53 for sixth place overall. Her sophomore teammate Billie Rouse clocked a 2:15.81 mark in the same race and narrowly missed out on a qualifying spot by just four spots.

Then, the 5,000-meters began, which featured five Hurricane women. Taking advantage of an opening late in the race, senior Chloe Hershenow exploded to a huge lead, finishing the race almost five seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in 16:19.84 for her second conference title in the event. Senior Tamara Reeves took third in 16:24.86 to earn all-conference honors. Graduate Ailey Mitchell placed seventh, sophomore Alicen Ashley eighth and junior Robyn Kowalski 13^th.

Action for the Tulsa women wrapped up with the distance medley relay. The TU contingent, composed of Hosey (1,200m), sophomore Lianne Holtermann (400m), Rouse (800m) and Pesendorfer (1,600m), finished the race in 11:38.43 for second place. All four athletes took home all-conference honors.

"We are a point up from our goal for day one," said Director of Track and Women's Head Coach Steve Gulley. "We're having a great meet and still have a lot of bullets left tomorrow."

Men
In a similar situation for the women, Tulsa had two competing in the mile run in separate heats, including junior Sean Korsmo (4:08.93) and junior Jaden Forester (4:06.35). Both punched their tickets to Saturday's final with top-3 heat finishes in Friday's trial run.

Junior Evan Sanni-Thomas improved his top-10 finish streak to six on the year when he snuck into the top eight of the 400-meter dash in 47.89, earning the last available spot for the final round on Saturday.

Just like the women, the Tulsa men put forth five outstanding 5,000-meter runners Friday. Making conference history in the event was senior Malte Propp (13:47.96) and redshirt junior Chris McLeod (13:49.99), who took the top two spots in the race on the way to breaking Scott Beattie's meet record of 13:52.51 set last year. Freshman James Knockton, senior Shay McEvoy and redshirt freshman Charlie Krasoff finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, to combine for nine team points.

The men ended the day with a championship-caliber performance in the distance medley relay as Korsmo (1,200m), Sanni-Thomas (400m), redshirt freshman Chanel Muir (800m) and senior Christian Baker (1,600m) won the event in 9:47.07 to put Tulsa at 37 points at the end of day one, good for second place in the team standings.

"Incredible first day for the men," said Men's Head Coach Taylor Gulley. "We brought 10 guys to Birmingham and all made finals or scored on day one. After seeing what I saw today, I think we're going to be incredibly tough to race against tomorrow."

Tulsa will resume action at 12:05 p.m. tomorrow, starting with the women's mile run final.

Day 1 Results --

Women
400m TRIAL
2. Elizabeth Roca – 53.97q*

800m TRIAL
6. Sarah Hosey – 2:13.53q
12. Billie Rouse – 2:15.81

Mile TRIAL
3. Katharina Pesendorfer – 4:57.11q
6. Amy Morefield – 4:59.76q

5,000m
1. Chloe Hershenow – 16:19.84
3. Tamara Reeves – 16:24.86*
7. Ailey Mitchell – 16:39.47*
8. Alicen Ashley – 16:40.86*
13. Robyn Kowalski – 17:04.62

Distance Medley Relay
2. Hosey, Holtermann, Rouse, Pesendorfer – 11:38.43

Men
400m TRIAL
3. Evan Sanni-Thomas – 47.89q

Mile TRIAL
2. Sean Korsmo – 4:08.93q
5. Jaden Forester – 4:06.35q

5,000m FINAL
1. Malte Propp – 13:47.96#*
2. Chris McLeod – 13:49.99#*
5. James Knockton – 14:23.14
6. Shay McEvoy – 14:25.87
7. Charlie Krasnoff – 14:31.08

Distance Medley Relay FINAL
1. Korsmo, Sanni-Thomas, Muir, C. Baker – 9:47.07

q – Finals Qualifier
# – Meet Record
* – Personal Best
Bold denotes all-conference recipients