SAN ANTONIO — More than 2,000 high school, college and professional athletes will converge on the Alamo City as the eighth annual UTSA Relays will be held this Friday-Saturday at Blossom Athletics Center.
The two-day meet kicks off with the first event in the women’s heptathlon at 11 a.m. on Friday and continues through Saturday afternoon. The Roadrunners will compete against athletes from Texas State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Incarnate Word and Texas Lutheran, among others.
For complete meet information and results, please visit here.
The UTSA women will field nearly a full squad in their third meet of the young outdoor season, headlined by senior All-American Ryanne Dupree. The East Central High product will be competing in the heptathlon and other open events as a Roadrunner for the final time in her hometown. The reigning Southland Conference Athlete of the Week has met the NCAA regional-qualifying standard in the 100-meter hurdles twice this season.
Dupree will have stiff competition in the heptathlon as two-time defending champion and meet record-holder Ashley Allen, a junior from Buffalo Gap, returns after capturing the SLC Indoor pentathlon crown.
The Roadrunner women welcome back six other defending champions including senior Diane Smith (800 meters), junior Chelsea Malina (javelin), three members — junior Brittany Epps and sophomores Ashley Jackson and Shanelle Slaughter — of the 4x200m relay and two legs — Allen and senior Lyndsey Sidney — of the shuttle hurdle relay.
The Roadrunner men, who successfully defended their Southland Conference Indoor Championship last month, kick off the 2007 outdoor campaign this weekend. They welcome back the entire defending champion 4x200m relay team — senior Scott Briscoe, juniors Steven Brown and Cedric Harris and sophomore Gaston Griffin. Briscoe and Griffin also ran on the victorious 4x400m relay squad last year.
Twenty-four athletes, 10 of which scored at last year's SLC Outdoor Championships, are scheduled to compete. The group is led by previous outdoor national qualifiers Brandon Buteaux, Will Vese and Brown.
Buteaux, a 2005 Indoor All-American, returns to track for the first time since the 2006 indoor season. The San Antonio native redshirted last year's outdoor campaign due to injury. The conference's top multi-event performer has a busy weekend scheduled, as he will compete in seven events (110m hurdles, high jump, pole vault, long jump, discus, javelin, 1,600m relay).
Brown is coming off a sophomore season that saw him qualify for the national meet in the long jump. Arguably one of the conference's top sprinters and long jumpers, he only will compete in the 1,600-meter relay this weekend.
Vese, a 110-meter hurdles semifinalist at last year's NCAA Championships, will see action in the hurdles and 1,600m relay during the two-day meet. He is coming off an indoor season that saw him win the league's 60-meter hurdles title.
Since finishing fourth at the 2004 SLC Outdoor, the Roadrunners have improved their standing at the conference meet in each of the past two years. UTSA placed third in 2005 before finishing second a year ago.
