RELATED LINKSDay 1 resultsPhoto galleryKeith Benford winning high jump clearance (video)
NORMAN, Okla. — Juniors Keith Benford and Tyler Williamson successfully defended their high jump and long jump titles, respectively, and fellow junior Phil Steinert won the first weight throw championship in program history to lead the six-time defending Southland Conference Indoor Champion UTSA men's track & field team to the top of the team leaderboard after Friday's opening day of competition at the conference's annual indoor meet.
Benford not only added an inch to his school record to lead a 1-2 Roadrunners finish, but the Pflugerville native also won the event for the third consecutive year. He cleared 7-3 ¼ (2.22m) for the sixth title in program annals (all since 2002) and the mark moved him into an 11th-place tie on the national leaderboard. Benford is undefeated in his two outings this season and he now has won six gold medals during his illustrious career. Sophomore teammate Kerry Thompson placed second (6-9 ½/2.07m), which gave UTSA a combined 18 points in the event.
Meanwhile, Williamson was victorious for the second year in a row with the same exact measurement he recorded in winning the event for the first time in school history last season. The Houston native broke the sand in 24-2 ¼ (7.37m) on both his second and third attempts of the afternoon and that was three-quarters of an inch longer than Central Arkansas' Jaron Criswell. Junior Roscoe Robinson also scored points with his seventh-place performance (23-5 ½/7.10m), which added a dozen to the Roadrunners' team tally.
Steinert captured his championship in dramatic fashion. The Round Rock native recorded his winning toss of 61-11 (18.87m) on his sixth and final attempt of the competition and that outdistanced Stephen F. Austin's Clint Harris by nearly a foot-and-a-half. UTSA's record holder in the event, he finished third a year ago and sixth as a freshman and he now has three career titles in his specialty event. Junior Richard Garrett Jr. was two spots behind his teammate in third with his career-long throw of 57-11 ¼ (17.66m), giving the Roadrunners another 16 points in the team standings.
Their three gold medals pushed the program's all-time total to 59 and 34 of those have come since six-time Southland Indoor Coach of the Year Aaron Fox took over in 2003.
UTSA also received points from its distance medley relay of sophomores Brady Hand, J.J. Jones and Chrisshun Jamerson and senior Albert Cardenas, who raced to third in 10:14.95, as well as junior Kyle Tomasini, who finished seventh in the pole vault (15-7/4.75m).
The Roadrunners have racked up a total of 54 points through the first six scored events and that is 22 more than second place Stephen F. Austin (32) and Lamar rounds out the top three with 31.
UTSA also advanced a league-best 11 athletes into Saturday's running finals and that's in addition to its three entries in the 3,000 meters and 1,600m relay team. The Roadrunners will have three runners in both the mile and 800m, two each in the quarter and 60m hurdles and one in the 200m on the final day of competition.
The two-day meet concludes on Saturday and a UTSA victory would give it an unprecedented seventh consecutive team championship, breaking its current tie with Lamar, which also won six in a row from 1980-85.