RELATED LINKSFinal results
SAN MARCOS — Junior Tyler Williamson became just the third UTSA athlete to surpass the 25-foot barrier in the long jump and his performance highlighted a solid weekend of action for the Roadrunners at the two-day Bobcat Classic.
Williamson broke the sand in a wind-aided 25-6 (7.77m) and that added more than a half foot to his previous career best (24-11 ¾/7.61m) established four weeks ago at the Texas Relays. That extended his Southland Conference lead to nearly a foot and it also vaulted him to fifth on the national leaderboard. The Houston native fell just three-quarters of an inch short of current UTSA jumps coach Steven Brown's school record (25-6 ¾/7.79m) set six years ago. Tomm Wisloff is the only other Roadrunner in program history to surpass 25 feet in the event (25-3 ½/7.71m in 1986).
Meanwhile, junior Taylor Reed, who entered the two-day meet as the program's lone pole vault record holder at 16-6 ¾ (5.05m), added four more inches to his standard by clearing 16-10 ¾ (5.15m), but he was matched by classmate Kyle Tomasini, who added eight to his previous career best. The pair tied for third place in the field of 20 vaulters. It marked the sixth time that Reed has either set or tied the UTSA mark in his dozen outings as a Roadrunner.
Fellow junior Darryl Wyrick won the 400-meter hurdles title with a personal best time of 51.33. Not only did that performance shave 33 one-hundredths of a second off his previous career best, but it also improved his second-place standing on the Southland Conference leaderboard and moved him to 26th nationally. Sophomore Joshua Smith placed second with a PR of 51.74, giving UTSA the top three spots in the league standings.
Junior Richard Garrett Jr. was the team's other gold medalist, as he won the shot put with a measurement of 58-4 ½ (17.79m). That was nearly a foot-and-a-half better than freshman Andrew Akens, who recorded a new personal best with his heave of 56-10 ¾ (17.34m), which was a two-and-a-half improvement of his previous PR.
Sophomore Keyunta Hayes continued his strong season by racing to the second-best 400m performance in program history. The two-time reigning Southland Athlete of the Week clocked a 46.73 en route to a third-place finish in the first such race of his two-year career. He now stands third in the conference rankings (t-36th NCAA).
The 1,600m relay of Hayes, freshman Christopher Hall, Wyrick and junior James Pailin earned a silver medal after circling the Texas State Track & Field Stadium oval four times in 3:09.08.
Sophomore Kerry Thompson also posted a runner-up performance in the high jump, but he finished as the top collegian after clearing a career-best 7-0 ½ (2.15m). Junior teammate Keith Benford was third with his jump of 6-10 ¾ (2.10m).
Sophomores Chrishunn Jamerson and Brady Hand added third-place performances in the 800m and 1,500m, respectively.
Jamerson recorded a 1:52.62 in his bronze medal effort, while Hand registered a 3:57.06 in the metric mile.
UTSA will take next weekend off before returning to San Marcos on Friday, May 11, when it begins competition at the three-day Southland Outdoor Championships.