| Junior Dana Mecke added two more SLC Championships to her resume on Saturday. |
HOUSTON ? Junior Dana Mecke swept the middle distance races and junior Jessica Jones grabbed gold in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday to help lead the UTSA women’s track & field team to a fifth-place finish at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships.
Saturday’s trio of crowns combined with the distance medley relay team’s gold medal from Friday night gave UTSA four titles for the championship, the most in one indoor meet since also collecting four in 1998. The Roadrunners now own 46 total indoor individual and relay titles.
The Roadrunners tallied 74 points for their first top-five showing since 2006. Stephen F. Austin ran away with the team crown with 158 points, while Texas State was second with 113.66. Sam Houston State (84) and UT Arlington (76) just edged UTSA in a neck-and-neck battle for places three, four and five.
“I could not be happier with the way we competed this weekend,” head coach Aaron Fox, who is in his first season directing both the men’s and women’s teams, said. “We knew we could be in the mix for as high as third place going in and we were right there when all was said and done.
“Dana, Jessica and Kayla just had fabulous performances this weekend. I can’t say enough about them and the entire team with the way they stayed focused and competed. This is a great building block for the future of this program.”
Less than 24 hours after anchoring the DMR to first place, Mecke pulled off a tough double in the middle distance events. She began the final day of races by cruising to victory in the mile, as she clocked a 5:00.35 to outdistance Meghan Lemke of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who crossed second in 5:03.58.
It marked the first mile crown on the women’s side since 1992, UTSA’s first season in the SLC, when two-time Olympian Liza Hunter took top honors.
The Smithson Valley High product came back less than an hour later and successfully defended her league title in the 800m. Mecke made four circles of the Bill Yeoman Fieldhouse track in a personal-best time of 2:13.00 to break the tape ahead of another Islander, Hannah Maenius (2:14.67).
“I was more worried about just winning the mile than what time I ran,” said Mecke, who tallied a team-best 22.5 points in the meet. “I didn’t want to tire myself out for the 800, but I knew if I gave it my all in both races I could help the team out. I’ve been working very hard and the coaches have been great, so this feels good to see all of it pay off.”
The Roadrunners picked up 16 points in the half-mile, as sophomore Jayde James, also a member of the victorious DMR, placed third with a personal-best 2:14.87. Traditionally strong in the event, Mecke’s 800m crown gives UTSA five titles in the event since 2002.
Jones blistered the track for a personal-best 8.48 to win the 60 hurdles, edging Sam Houston State’s Tiana Lee (8.54) for top honors while demolishing her previous PR of 8.67 recorded in Friday’s preliminary round in the process. It marked the second straight league title for the Hightower High School product, who won gold in the outdoor 100m hurdles in Huntsville last May.
“Going into the race, I had a good mindset of just focusing on what I needed to do and not worry about the other competitors,” Jones said. “I listened to what the coaches had me concentrating on, and that was my technique. It just feels amazing to put it all together in the biggest race of the year.”
Senior Ashley Jackson posted a pair of top-five individual finishes in the short sprints. The Corpus Christi native sped to a 7.74 for fifth place in the 60m and later circled in 24.83 for fourth place in the 200m.
In other action, Sophomore Rebekah Hill skipped to a 37-9 ? measure to place sixth in the triple jump, while freshman Rebecca Crain, who ran the second leg on the champion DMR, clocked a 59.25 for seventh place in the 400m. The 4x400m relay team of sophomore Shavonne Armbrister, Jones, sophomore Kayla Thomas and Jackson concluded the meet by finishing seventh in 3:58.47.