NEW ORLEANS — The UTSA track & field teams appear in the top 50 in eight different #EventSquad rankings in this week's report by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The UTSA women rank in the top 50 in five events, including two in the top 10, while the men stand in the top 50 in a trio of disciplines.
Fresh off placing four in the top eight at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships, the women's 400-meter hurdles crew ranks fifth in the nation this week. UTSA record-holder Faith Roberson (56.89) and Alanah Yukich (57.00), who finished 1-2 at the conference meet, along with Mackenzie Grimes and Maren Wilms, who were seventh and eighth, respectively, have combined for an average time of 59.87, just ahead of BYU's 1:00.05 and close behind Iowa's 59.84 mark. LSU (56.80), Colorado (59.45) and Clemson (59.50) make up the top three in the rankings.
The women also appear in the top 10 nationally in the triple jump, coming in at No. 7 this week. Oreoluwa Adamson and Danielle Spence, who both placed in the top seven at conference last weekend, lead the way, while Ingeborg Gruenwald and Johanna Soover give the Roadrunners an average mark of 12.43 meters (40-9.5), just ahead of Liberty (12.32m) and close behind California (12.47m) in an event led by Texas A&M (13.45m).
The UTSA men have leaped into the 11th spot nationally in the long jump after a strong showing at the C-USA Outdoor. Sam Healy, Jack Turner and Christie Le Roux finished 2-3-4 and Joel McFarlane placed eighth over the weekend, and that quartet owns an average jump of 7.48m (24-6.25), just ahead of Indiana (7.44m) and close behind the trio of Nebraska, Arkansas and Coastal Carolina (7.50m).
The Roadrunners also appear in the top 15 in the country in the women's long jump, coming in at No. 14 this week. Gruenwald and Adamson collected the silver and bronze medals, respectively, and Sigrid Kleive was seventh at last week's C-USA Outdoor, while Amaya Scott joins that group to provide an average leap of 6.14m (20-1.75), right in front of Penn State (6.12m).
The women rank 24th in the shot put behind school record-holder Maia Campbell, who won the C-USA Outdoor crown with a career-best mark of 17.33m (56-10.25). Lacee Barnes was sixth at the league meet, while Scott and Kleive have teamed up to hand the Roadrunners an average measurement of 14.44m (47-4.75).
UTSA also comes in at 35th in the women's javelin behind Marilis Remmel, the school record-holder who earned bronze at the C-USA Outdoor meet, and Kleive, the program's No. 2 all-time performer, as well as Scott and Wilms.
Meanwhile, the men are ranked 44th in the 110m hurdles on the strength of Bashiru Abdullahi, who set the school record earlier this season with a 13.61 clocking. Gabriel Green, Justin Wright and Turner make up the rest of the four-man lineup that averages a 14.77 clocking.
The Roadrunners also stand 49th in the high jump with an average clearance of 1.96m (6-5.25) this week behind Grant Szalek (2.07m/6-9.5) and the multi-event trio of Turner, McFarlane and Wright.
USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings places a rank order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes on the national descending-order list. As with the national descending-order list for qualifying and seeding purposes, marks are subject to be converted due to track size and/or altitude. A team must have four or more athletes with a valid season-best mark recorded with TFRRS (Track & Field Results Reporting System) to achieve a ranking in a particular event.
The Roadrunners will return to action on May 26-29 at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in College Station. Qualifiers for the four-day meet will be announced on Thursday, May 20.
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