Tulane earned two medals Friday at the American Outdoor Championships, with Kiptanui repeating as steeplechase champion.
The Tulane Green Wave track and field team is continuing a strong showing at the 2026 American Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium in Denton, Texas. On Day One, Blezzin Kimutai won silver in the women’s 10,000m while Cara Salsberry took home the bronze in the women’s hammer throw, and five athletes qualified for the finals in the 1,500m. On Day Two, the Green Wave earned two medals again, both in the 3,000m steeplechase. Silas Kiptanui continues a stellar campaign with the gold medal in the event, while Petra Dos Santos claimed the bronze medal in the women’s event.
In total, six athletes scored points on Day Two of the tournament, and after two days, the women are fifth in their meet with 30 points, and the men are in sixth in their meet with 20 points.
The headliner was Kiptanui, who won the men’s 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:57.46. He repeats as the gold medalist after winning the same event last season. Dos Santos finished in third in the women’s steeplechase with a time of 10:34.42, which is the sixth-best mark in Tulane program history. Shortly behind her, Allison Hall placed fifth with a time of 10:45.14 to add four points for the Green Wave.
In the women’s field events and heptathlon, Brianna Brand places seventh (5.95m) for two points in the long jump. In the pole vault, Presley Wolfe added one point for her eighth-place finish of 3.89m. In the heptathlon, Sofie Groeninger finished sixth overall with a total of 5,127 points to earn three points for the Wave. She entered the final day in fourth after the four opening events. In the long jump, she came in 12th with a 5.07m mark; in javelin, she placed (37.61m); and in the 800m, she came in eighth (2:30.35). Groeninger also immediately competed in the shot put after completing the heptathlon and placed 10th with a personal best of 14.07m.
For the track prelims, they kicked off with the women’s 800m prelims. Jasper Newton advanced to Saturday’s final with a sixth-place finish of 2:12.37, while Maria Alduan came in 10th (2:13.84), and Eliza Brand in 20th (2:17.14). For the men’s 800m prelims, Samuel Cohen placed 14th (1:52.76), and Roman Schrader came in 21st (1:58.82). Zaria Parker came in 14th in the women’s 100m prelims with a time of 11.67, followed by Brianna Brand in 19th with a time of 11.89. The track prelims wrapped up with the men’s 100m, where Andrew Bamberg placed 20th with a time of 10.96.
They now look to the final day of the American Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday. The field event will feature Cara Salsberry in women's discus. The track finals will contain 4x100m and 4x400m relays, and the men's and women's 5,000m. The finals for the qualified Wave athletes will take place in the men’s and women’s 1,500m and the women’s 800m. With the way the Wave have started, Tulane looks to have a strong finish as they’re positioned to add more medals and points with several athletes advancing on.
