Friday, May 10
San Antonio, Texas
All Day
University of North Texas
vs
American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships
Okoye Wins 400-Meter Hurdles to Lead UNT at AAC Track & Field Championships
5/12/2024 8:19:00 PM | Track & Field/XC
Men finish eighth, women take ninth in team race
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – UNT hurdler China Okoye captured her first conference title in the 400-meter hurdles at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in San Antonio on Sunday.
After recording the second-fastest time in the preliminary round on Friday to advance to Sunday's final, the sophomore set a personal-best mark of 58.48 to capture the conference crown. Her victory is the first conference championship in the 400-meter hurdles since Chastity Stewart won in 2016. Okoye's time of 58.48 is also the fourth fastest time in school history, trailing only three times courtesy of Stewart.
"I'm so excited for China and how she showed up today," head coach Doug Marshall said. "I've seen her confidence grow every time she has run the 400-meter hurdles this year. I'm so proud of her and the future is so bright for her."
Okoye was the lone conference champion at the event for North Texas, but three UNT throwers also finished on the podium. Allison Stigarll took silver in the women's hammer throw with a personal best and school record throw of 58.84 meters, marking the highest finish in the event for UNT since Haley Walker in 2019. Dionna James and Akeel Hanchard both earned their first all-conference honors with third place finishes in the women's shot put and men's javelin.
The men's and women's 400-meter relay team also took bronze to cap off the meet for UNT. The women's relay consisting of Macy Burnham, Kendahl Tucker, Okoye and Aariyana Williams combined for a season best 3:38.79, surpassing their previous top time by over six seconds. A 3:11.48 for the men's team run by Justin Walden, Sukeil Foucha, Samir Williams and Jordan Coates-McBride was also a season-best time for the Mean Green.
The UNT men finished in eighth place with 38 points, while the women's team capped off the meet ninth in the team race totaling 48 points.
Of note, the Mean Green were without Zion Hill who scratched from the men's javelin prior to the start of the competition. A three-time Conference USA champion, Hill led the AAC with a mark of 74.95 meters this season.
"I am happy how we performed as a team on the women's side," Marshall said. "I truly feel like we are getting closer to where we need to be as a team. We still have some gaps to fill and a lot of progress can be made but I love how our athletes showed up and fought this weekend. I was a little disappointed with the men's performance overall, but were battling the injury bug this weekend. We still have to be better, and we will be in the future."
Several Mean Green sprinters collected points by advancing to the finals of their respective races. On the women's side, Tucker recorded the best time of her career in back-to-back days, eventually placing fifth with a 54.23 in the 400 meters. Deja Shaw-Huckaby also recorded a personal best 11.61 in the finals of the 100 meters. Jaylen Washington collected three points for the men's team in the 100 meters with a sixth-place finish, while senior Coates-McBride turned in a career-best time of 52.02 in the 400-meter hurdles.
The men's team saw Chase Lehr and Luke Canon combine for seven points in the 800 meters. Lehr clocked the second-fastest time of the prelims and beat his personal best by nearly three seconds before topping that time with a mark of 1:51.52 in the finals. Canon placed sixth with a time of 1:52.08, finishing one spot behind his teammate.
Mean Green jumpers Ricardo Leyva and Kennedy Adams also collected with top-eight finishes at the meet. Leyva narrowly missed out on all-conference honors clearing a height of 2.11 meters, blowing past his previous best height of 2.06 meters. The freshman cleared the same height as Rice's Ese Amata but fell to fourth place based on missing previous attempts. Adams posted a career-best 12.61 meters in the triple jump to place fifth at her final conference meet.
The UNT athletes who have qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round will be announced by the NCAA this week. Those athletes will then compete in Fayetteville, Arkansas, May 22-25, with a chance to earn a berth to the NCAA Championships.
After recording the second-fastest time in the preliminary round on Friday to advance to Sunday's final, the sophomore set a personal-best mark of 58.48 to capture the conference crown. Her victory is the first conference championship in the 400-meter hurdles since Chastity Stewart won in 2016. Okoye's time of 58.48 is also the fourth fastest time in school history, trailing only three times courtesy of Stewart.
"I'm so excited for China and how she showed up today," head coach Doug Marshall said. "I've seen her confidence grow every time she has run the 400-meter hurdles this year. I'm so proud of her and the future is so bright for her."
Okoye was the lone conference champion at the event for North Texas, but three UNT throwers also finished on the podium. Allison Stigarll took silver in the women's hammer throw with a personal best and school record throw of 58.84 meters, marking the highest finish in the event for UNT since Haley Walker in 2019. Dionna James and Akeel Hanchard both earned their first all-conference honors with third place finishes in the women's shot put and men's javelin.
The men's and women's 400-meter relay team also took bronze to cap off the meet for UNT. The women's relay consisting of Macy Burnham, Kendahl Tucker, Okoye and Aariyana Williams combined for a season best 3:38.79, surpassing their previous top time by over six seconds. A 3:11.48 for the men's team run by Justin Walden, Sukeil Foucha, Samir Williams and Jordan Coates-McBride was also a season-best time for the Mean Green.
The UNT men finished in eighth place with 38 points, while the women's team capped off the meet ninth in the team race totaling 48 points.
Of note, the Mean Green were without Zion Hill who scratched from the men's javelin prior to the start of the competition. A three-time Conference USA champion, Hill led the AAC with a mark of 74.95 meters this season.
"I am happy how we performed as a team on the women's side," Marshall said. "I truly feel like we are getting closer to where we need to be as a team. We still have some gaps to fill and a lot of progress can be made but I love how our athletes showed up and fought this weekend. I was a little disappointed with the men's performance overall, but were battling the injury bug this weekend. We still have to be better, and we will be in the future."
Several Mean Green sprinters collected points by advancing to the finals of their respective races. On the women's side, Tucker recorded the best time of her career in back-to-back days, eventually placing fifth with a 54.23 in the 400 meters. Deja Shaw-Huckaby also recorded a personal best 11.61 in the finals of the 100 meters. Jaylen Washington collected three points for the men's team in the 100 meters with a sixth-place finish, while senior Coates-McBride turned in a career-best time of 52.02 in the 400-meter hurdles.
The men's team saw Chase Lehr and Luke Canon combine for seven points in the 800 meters. Lehr clocked the second-fastest time of the prelims and beat his personal best by nearly three seconds before topping that time with a mark of 1:51.52 in the finals. Canon placed sixth with a time of 1:52.08, finishing one spot behind his teammate.
Mean Green jumpers Ricardo Leyva and Kennedy Adams also collected with top-eight finishes at the meet. Leyva narrowly missed out on all-conference honors clearing a height of 2.11 meters, blowing past his previous best height of 2.06 meters. The freshman cleared the same height as Rice's Ese Amata but fell to fourth place based on missing previous attempts. Adams posted a career-best 12.61 meters in the triple jump to place fifth at her final conference meet.
The UNT athletes who have qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round will be announced by the NCAA this week. Those athletes will then compete in Fayetteville, Arkansas, May 22-25, with a chance to earn a berth to the NCAA Championships.
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