Silas Kiptanui broke his own program record in the steeplechase, leading Tulane Green Wave track and field to multiple top-10 finishes.
Tulane Green Wave track and field star Silas Kiptanui entered this weekend as the program record holder for the 3,000m steeplechase. On Day One of the Bryan Clay Invitational, he broke his own record. It headlined an opening night that set the tone in Azusa, Ca., one that saw top marks across multiple events.
The Green Wave had multiple top-10 finishes on the first day of the invitational, one of two meets that Tulane is competing in this weekend. The program split its roster across two time zones as some headed to the three-day Bryan Clay Invitational in California, while the rest are competing in the Tom Tellez Alumni Invitational in Houston, Tx. While that invitational in Texas kicks off Friday, Thursday was quite historical for the Wave. They tallied two more top 10 results in addition to Kiptanui: Tommy Rice’s sixth place finish in the 10,000m steeplechase (29:12:80) and third place for Blezzin Kimutai. Kimutai’s third-place result came in the women’s 10,000m with a 33:28:25 finish.
But Kiptanui stole the show, entering the weekend as the record holder in the men’s 3,000, steeplechase with a time of 2:25.21 last June. He broke his own record Thursday night with a mark of 8:25.16, good for third place. It’s certainly significant to break one’s own record in a loaded invitational – one of two in the most important weekend in the program’s outdoor campaign yet – as it shows that the team is peaking at the right point in the season.
In the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, Alex Sharp came in 45th with a time of 10:46:30, while Allison Hall made her way into the record books with a strong top-10 mark, placing seventh all time in program history with a time of 10:49.69 to finish 75th. Rogerio Amaral rounded out the competitors for the Wave, finishing 21st in the men’s 10,000m with a time of 29:10:35. It’s a deep lineup that kicks off a strong weekend that Tulane will hope to continue momentum wise through the events in Texas and California.
As the dual Tulane squads get set to compete across the country, they’re looking towards the final stretch of their campaign ahead of the American Conference Outdoor Championships with just two weekends remaining. The program is managing a split-site weekend that highlights their depth, and the strong opening performance in the Bryan Clay Invitational shows that the squad is peaking at the right time.