Howard Wins 1500m; Gottlieb and Brown Earn Silver to Highlight AAC Championships

Sunday, May 12

Temple University

AAC Outdoor Championships (Day 3)

Photo by: ©Kelly Ross

Howard Wins 1500m; Gottlieb and Brown Earn Silver to Highlight AAC Championships

5.12.19 | Women's Track and Field

Results

WICHITA, Ks. – The Temple University track and field squad had multiple outstanding performances on day three to wrap up the 2019 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The final day of the championships meet was highlighted by an individual title in the 1500m for Millie Howard and silver medals for Helene Gottlieb in the 800m and Aisha Brown in the high jump.

Meet Highlights
> For the third straight day, the Owls kicked off competition at the championship meet in the field. Sophomores Kayla Nesbitt-McEwen and Candus Burks each represented the Cherry and White in the triple jump after each participating in the long jump yesterday. Nesbitt-McEwen came out on top in the pair, finishing 13th with her best jump of 11.97m. Burks finished three spots back after hitting her best-ever mark at Temple of 11.82m.
> In a thrilling battle for first place, Brown put on her best performance of the season in the high jump. After clearing 1.71m and 1.74m each on her first attempt, the sophomore went on to 1.77m. She cleared her third height on her third attempt, then advancing to 1.80m alongside Memphis' Saida Burns-Moore. Brown cleared 1.80m on her second attempt for her best performance of the season, but her track to get there had one more attempt than her Memphis opponent. For the second straight year, the sophomore had a runner-up finish to get on the podium, earning all-conference honors and racking up eight points for the squad.
> The 1500m was one to remember for Howard and the rest of the squad after she darted towards the front of the pack on the initial straight away and never looked back. After a runner-up finish in the event just one year ago, the junior came hungry for a title and left it all on the track. Heading into the final 400m in the lead by over five seconds, Howard bolted through the finish line in 4:21.80 to capture her first-ever outdoor individual title. The first place medal was her second-ever at a conference meet after she won the indoor mile two seasons ago. The junior earned all-conference honors and set a new AAC meet record in her regionals-bound event.
> A standout performer in the hurdle events for the Owls, Sydney Williams had a fantastic showing in the finals of the 100m hurdles. Entering the event seeded seventh, the sophomore finished sixth with her best-ever performance of 14.14 to earn three points for Temple.
> Overcoming adversity on the track over the past few weeks, freshman Marissa White added another remarkable performance to the long list she has had during her first-year campaign. After qualifying for finals in the 400m during the indoor season and finishing fourth overall, the freshman had a solid preliminary race to advance her into today's final. In a hard-fought race, White finished fifth overall to earn four points for the Owls with a time of 54.67.
> After an unexpected result in the 1500m, Gottlieb was resilient to fight her way to second place in the 800m for Temple. The sophomore battled all the way through the finish line, clocking in behind only UConn's Susan Aneno at 2:10.06 to earn a silver medal. With her podium finish in the event, the gritty sophomore completed her second year at Temple as an All-AAC runner during the cross country, indoor and outdoor seasons.
> Closing out a great day three of the AAC Championships, the Owls put together their fastest performance of the season in the 4x400m relay. After a speedy first leg from Williams, sophomore Mallorie Smith, Brown and White each had some of their best splits of the season to earn the squad a sixth place finish with a time of 3:45.03.

From the Coach
> "We wrapped up the final day of the conference championships today, and while I wish we could have had a few more people qualify I feel like it was a step in the right direction," said head coach Elvis Forde. "We had Ashton, Millie and Helene in the 800m, and Helene came back after a disappointing performance in the 1500m and I was proud of her resilience. Millie was the conference champion in the 1500m, and she emptied her tank a bit too much to do as well as we would have liked in the 800m. As a senior, Ashton scored her first points and I was happy for her to end her final race that way.
> "In the triple jump, we were proud of Candus for establishing a new personal best of 11.82m in the event, but were expecting some points from Kayla that didn't end up playing out. Later, Aisha did very well jumping 1.80m and look forward to seeing what she does at the regional meet in a few weeks alongside Millie and Helene. In the hurdles, Sydney had her best weekend as a Temple Owl. We would love to see her continue to improve and be able to score points in the long hurdles as well.
> In the 400m, I was very proud of Marissa. She has been nursing an injury that has hindered her ability to train over the past month, but still came out here and ran as well as she did in the finals which was very impressive. In the 5K, I would've liked to see Katie go out on a better note but nevertheless she gave her best efforts. The 4x4 relay team put together four good legs in the first heat, and is something that we really plan on continuing to work on over the next year. Looking back on the weekend, I'm a little disappointed in the overall team performance but am proud of many of our student-athletes and how they showed up."

Up Next
> While the 2019 season is officially over for the majority of the squad, a handful of Owls will wait to see where they fall in the East Region in their respective events. The top-48 student-athletes in the region in each event will prepare for the NCAA East Preliminary, which will be held in Jacksonville, Fla. from May 23-25.