Women looking to end decade long drought

In 2016 the Cincinnati Bearcats' women’s track & field team won the American Outdoor Championships with a point total of 111. The Cougars only managed to score 66 points and finish eighth. The goal of the coaching staff recruiting wise was to bring in talent that could get the women back to a competitive level.

It has been over ten years since the Cougars last won a conference title, but this season they are closer than they have been in years. The women come into the meet with the top times/marks in five events, and top five places in ten events. Their performances have the women believing they have the talent to win their first team championship since 2006.

“Quite honestly we’ve got a really strong group,” Head Coach Leroy Burrell said. “We don’t have as much depth of coverage in events, but certainly the group is capable of performing at a high level. So I expect them to fight.”

Going back to the indoor season, this year’s class of freshmen have given an energy to the team they lacked last season. Freshmen like Sierra Smith, Samiyah Samuels and Birexus Hawkins all came in and immediately put pressure on both the upperclassmen and their fellow freshmen to perform to the best of their ability.

As a team the women finished third at the Indoor Conference Championship for the first time since 2014. That podium finish and subsequent performances has put the team in position to legitimately compete for a championship ring.

“We’re very excited for our indoor performance,” assistant coach Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie said. “At the end of the day we’re not the 11^th spot, so I’d rather be first than 11^th. We’ve just got to pull together and bring our very best. That’s all we ask for from the ladies. Just pull together, be positive and give their very best and try to go after that number 1 spot.”

Senior sprinter Tori Williams, senior distance runner Selena Sierra and junior jumper Tonye’cia Burks have been the most consistent performers during the outdoor season. Williams has continued her success from the indoor season, where she won the Indoor 200m conference title. With the No. 2 200m time in conference, 23.18s, she is in good position to compete for a second championship in her senior season.

Sierra is the only returning individual champion for the women. After winning the 3000m steeplechase last year, she has sustained her No. 1 time with a new PR of 10:26.41s. Sierra’s time at the Mt. SAC Relays broke her own school record in the event.

Burks is another who has continued to break her own school records this season. After breaking the school indoor triple jump record at the conference meet, she opened her outdoor season by breaking the school outdoor triple jump record. She subsequently broke that record at the Mt. SAC Relays with a mark of 13.53m.

Her mark was originally No. 1 in the nation but is still No. 8 and No. 4 in the NCAA West. In addition Burks has steadily improved in the long jump where she is No. 5 in the NCAA West with a 6.41m mark. In a short period of time Burks has become a world class jumper and has put her in a spot to qualify for nationals for the first time in her career.

“It’s a big opportunity that I’ve been waiting for for three years now,” Burks said. “I finally get the chance to do that so I’m going to keep pushing and do what I can do.”

Coach Burrell has preached all season long that the athletes need to perform to their very best when it matters most. If the women do that these next three days, their chances of winning a title again are high.