SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA men's track & field team begins defense of its 2008 Southland Conference Outdoor Championship on Friday when it heads to Nacogodoches for the league's annual meet. The three-day event will take place at Fletcher Garner Track at Homer Bryce Stadium on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.
The Birds enter the meet with the top marks in three events thisspring. Junior All-American Teddy Williams owns the world's fastest 100m time in any conditionthis season (9.90w), while freshman Michael Cook sits atop the league's1,500m leaderboard (3:54.79) and senior captain Tommy Wolfe leads in the pole vault (UTSArecord 16-2 ?/4.95m). All told, UTSA has 13 marks that rank among the top five in their respective event.
Competition gets underway Friday morning with the decathlon and runs through the 1,600m relay, which is slated for 7:40 p.m. on Sunday. For complete meet information and real time results, click here.
The Roadrunners already have posted five NCAA Midwest Regionalmarks this spring. WIlliams has qualified in both the 100 (10.26) and 200 (20.99),while senior Gaston Griffin (47.03/400m) and junior Johnathan Whittaker (6-10 ?/2.10m/highjump) also have met the regional standard in addition to the quartet of sophomore Kevin Hunt, Williams, sophomore John Matthews and freshman Eman Fondren (40.15/400m relay).
UTSA, led by a school-record five first-place finishes a year ago, scored a program-best 138.5 points en route to its first outdoor title since 2001 and the Roadrunners completed the first indoor/outdoor sweep in school annals. The squad is led by a pair of defending champions in Wolfe and Williams. Wolfe captured gold in the decathlon, while Williams ? last year's Oustanding Track Performer ? is the defending champion in the 100, 200 and 400-meter relay.
The Roadrunners, who have finished no worse than third dating back to 2005, own a total of 41 individual and relay crowns in their 17 years of SLC competition, 14 of which have come under the direction of head coach Aaron Fox. UTSA has been particularly strong in the decathlon, winning the last three titles (Bryan Wolfe, Brandon Buteaux, Tommy Wolfe).