| Sophomore Johnathan Whittaker tied his personal best in the high jump on Friday. |
LINCOLN, Neb. ? Sophomore Johnathan Whittaker tied his career best with a leap of 6-11 (2.11m) and placed seventh in the high jump to highlight opening-day action for the UTSA men's track & field team at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday.
Whittaker, one of a meet-leading four Roadrunners competing in the high jump, cleared 6-9 (2.06m) and 6-11 in his first jump at each height, but the Houston native was unable to surpass 7-1 (2.16m), which would have been a career high. His seventh-place effort gave UTSA 1.5 points, its first of the two-day competition that determines who qualifies the NCAA Championships. Junior Carvey Evans, sophomore Marcus Bibles and P.J. McGowen were unable to clear the opening height of 6-9.
In the 100 meters, sophomore Teddy Williams and senior Steven Brown both advanced to Saturday's final.
Williams raced to the day's third-fastest 100m time when he crossed the tape in 10.38, which was just one one-hundredth behind Texas A&M's Richard Adu-Bobie in the third preliminary heat. Aggies freshman Gerald Phiri registered the top mark when he peeled off a 10.32 in the first heat. Brown, meanwhile, finished second behind Phiri with a 10.42 reading, which was the fifth-quickest mark of the afternoon.
Head coach Aaron Fox also saw his 400-meter relay team of senior Will Vese, Williams, senior Cedric Harris and Brown advance to the finals when they circled the oval in 39.96, just one one-hundredth of a second behind Baylor in the day's third preliminary heat. The time ranked fifth overall and was the second-fastest by the quartet this season.
The Roadrunners get underway at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday when they hit the track for the 400m relay. Sophomore Alton St. Rose will compete in the triple jump at 5 p.m. and Brown and Williams will run in the 100m and 200m at 5:10 and 6:05 p.m., respectively.
The top five finishers in each individual event and the top three teamsin the 400m and 1,600m relays will earn automatic bids to this year’sNCAA Outdoor Championships, which are scheduled for June 11-14 in DesMoines, Iowa.
The Midwest Regional is one of four regional meetscontested this weekend to help determine the national field.Student-athletes from institutions located in the states of Colorado,Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota,Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. For complete MidwestRegional meet information, live video and real-time results, pleaseclick here.