AUSTIN, Texas — Joel McFarlane posted a career best in the decathlon and Alanah Yukich advanced to the women's 400-meter hurdles final to highlight Thursday action for the UTSA track & field teams at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
McFarlane scored 7,230 points to finish sixth in the decathlon and improve his previous collegiate best of 7,148, which was posted at the 2021 Conference USA Outdoor Championships.
Entering the final day with 3,925 points, McFarlane clocked a 15.30 in the 110-meter hurdles to add 814 points. The Monikie, Scotland, native then measured 33.36 meters (109-5) in the discus, cleared 4.20m (13-9.25) in the pole vault and threw the javelin 49.93m (163-9) to up his tally to 6,531 points with one event left.
In the final discipline, McFarlane timed 4:37.10 in the 1,500m to add 699 points and eclipse his previous PB by 82 points. He ended up 324 points ahead of UIW's Kyle Sieracki (6,906) and only 93 behind fifth-place finisher Lee Walburn of Washington State in the 12-man field won by Texas' Leo Beugebauer with 8,478 points.
On the track, Yukich won her heat of the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.56, finishing nearly one second ahead of Louisiana's Moseiha Bridgen (59.49) to advance to the final. The Australian's time was the 13th fastest overall in the field of 40 hurdlers and she will race in the final at 5:35 p.m. Friday.
In other action, Abby Balli clocked a 4:35.63 to place ninth in the B section of the women's 1,500m, while Spencer Herbstritt and Jake Smith finished 12th (32:28.60) and 14th (32:57.77), respectively, in the men's 10,000m.
Friday's field events are slated to begin at 9 a.m. followed by running events at 9:35 a.m.
Meet Coverage
Meet Central — https://texassports.com/sports/relays
Live Results — https://relays.texassports.com
Video (9:30 a.m. Friday) — Longhorn Network
Video (5 p.m. Friday) — Longhorn Network
Video (1:30 p.m. Saturday) — Longhorn Network
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners opened competition on Thursday at the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, as Isabella Simonelli finished 16th in the women's discus with a throw of 46.30m (151-11).
-UTSA-
