Temple posts highest finish at AAC indoor track meet

Sophomore distance runner Millie Howard won the mile run to help Temple place sixth at the American Athletic Conference indoor championship meet on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama.

Senior Katie Pinson (right), sophomore Millie Howard (middle right), freshman Lucy Jones (middle left), and freshman Helene Gottlieb (left) sprint across the track during practice on Oct. 20 at the Temple Sports Complex. | MIKE NGUYEN / FILE PHOTO

The track and field team placed sixth at last weekend’s 2018 American Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, to earn its highest finish since joining The American in 2013.

Cincinnati won the meet with 147 points, the most in the history of the conference.

Temple sophomore distance runner Millie Howard won the mile run with a time of four minutes, 46.21 seconds. She set a personal-best and beat the meet record set by former Temple runner Blanca Fernandez in 2015 and Memphis graduate distance runner Martina Rodriguez in 2017.

Sophomore distance runner Grace Moore won a bronze medal with a time of 4:51.29. Freshman distance runner Helene Gottlieb and senior Katie Pinson crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth respectively.

Gottlieb had a time of 4:55.44, and Pinson ran the race in 4:55.86. Freshman Lucy Jones crossed the finish line in 10th with a time of 5:03.74.

Freshman jumper Aisha Brown continued her strong performances in the high jump. After breaking a personal record at the Villanova Invitational on Feb. 3 with a mark of 1.7 meters, Brown once again reached that height to place sixth at the conference championship.

In the long jump pentathlon, junior multis competitor Crystal Jones posted a distance of 5.39 meters. She finished tied in seventh place with Central Florida sophomore jumper Natosha Jordan. Overall, Jones had a personal-best 3,635 points to finish fourth in the pentathlon.

Moore and Howard finished second and eighth respectively in the 3,000. Moore had a time of 9:44.45, while Howard finished behind with a time of 9:52.98.

Gottlieb competed in the 800 finals. With a time of two minutes, 11.37 seconds, she finished in seventh place out of eight finalists.

If any Owls qualify, they will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 9 and 10 in College Station, Texas. If not, they will have to wait for their first outdoor meet, which will be the 49er Classic on March 16 and 17 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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