| Junior Tommy Wolfe is in second place after the first five events of the decathlon. |
HUNTSVILLE ? Sixth-place performances by senior Luke Johnson in the hammer and freshman Jacob McDonald in the javelin highlighted the UTSA mens track & field team's first day of action at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships.
The Roadrunners stand in an eighth-place tie with seven points following the first three events of the championship meet, which is being held at the York Track & Field Complex on the campus of Sam Houston State.
Johnson had a season-best toss of 170-1 (51.84m) in the meet's first field event, which was good for three points. Meanwhile, McDonald led a pair of Roadrunners who recorded tallies with his toss of 188-11 (57.59m), which ranks as the third-best performance in school history. Junior Tommy Wolfe launched the spear 180-10 (55.12m) and placed eighth to give UTSA a combined four points in the event.
In the decathlon, Wolfe put himself in great position to capture the program's third consecutive title, as he scored 3,881 points, which is just 10 points behind leader Aaron Harlan of Stephen F. Austin. The Raymondville native registered the day's top long jump measurement (personal-best 22-11w/6.98m) and had the second-best marks in the 100 meters (pr 11.13) and shot put (46-6 ?/14.18m). Wolfe placed third in the high jump with a clearance of 6-4 ? (1.95m). His older brother, Bryan, won the championship two years ago and former All-American Brandon Buteaux was victorious a year ago.
The three-day meet continues on Saturday morning with the remaining five events of the decathlon. Field competition gets underway at 1 p.m. and the running preliminary heats get started four hours later.