| Brandon Buteaux | Mo Jackson |
NACOGDOCHES ? Senior All-American Brandon Buteaux (decathlon) and freshman Mo Jackson (long jump) both rallied late in their respective events to secure individual titles on Saturday at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships.
Buteaux scored an NCAA provisional 7,148 points in claiming his first conference decathlon title and gave the Roadrunners back-to-back decathlon champions for the first time in school history (Bryan Wolfe wn the title a year ago). The San Antonio native trailed teammate Tommy Wolfe by 94 points (6,717-6,623) going into the 10th and final event, the 1,500 meters. Buteaux ran a 5:06.13 to finish fifth, more than 27 seconds ahead of Wolfe, who finished ninth. However, the sophomore from Raymondville finished in second place for the second year in a row with a provisional and career-best 7,099 points. Consecutive runner-up showings in the discus and pole vault and a winning performance the javelin (personal-best 55.45m) vaulted Wolfe into first place heading into the 1,500m. The pair gave UTSA a maximum of 18 points in the all-important team standings.
Meanwhile, Jackson claimed UTSA’s first long jump title in school annals with his windy leap of 7.30m (23-11 ?). Just like Buteaux, Jackson’s championship was not secured until late, as he entered his sixth and final attempt in fifth place. However, the Converse native ripped off his top jump of the season when it counted the most. Buteaux added three points to the Roadrunners’ team total with his sixth-place effort (7.01m/23-0) and junior Steven Brown added one when he placed eighth (6.89mw/22-7 ?).
In the high jump, UTSA picked up 13 points when freshmen Johnathan Whittaker (2.05m/6-8 ?) and Marcus Bibles (personal-best 2.05m/6-8 ?) and sophomores Carvey Evans (2.00m/6-6 ?) and Jake Story (1.95m/6-4 ?) finished fourth through seventh, respectively.
In the track preliminary heats, the Roadrunners sent 15 runners into Sunday's finals, including four in the 800 meters and three in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. Brown (10.46) and junior Cedric Harris (10.48) both recorded season-bests and NCAA Regional times in the 100 and Harris (21.16) sped to a personal record and regional qualifier in the deuce.
The Roadrunners collected eight points in the day's final event ? the3,000-meter steeplechase ? when senior Benson Cheserek placed second in9:11.42.
Through eight scored events, SoutheasternLouisiana holds a slim 64-58 edge over UTSA in the team standings, while host Stephen F. Austin stands third with 54 points. The Roadrunners are attempting to sweep the indoor and outdoor titles for the first time in school history.
The meet concludes on Sunday at Fletcher Garner Track at Homer Bryce Stadium.