HOUSTON — Senior Brandon Chiuminetta (mile) and junior Albert Cardenas (800 meters) both raced to victories on Saturday to lead the UTSA men's track & field team at this weekend's two-day Houston Invitational/Multis.
Chiuminetta won the mile in a personal-best 4:17.13, a time that propelled him to fifth on the program's all-time performers list. The Dripping Springs native led three Roadrunners who finished in the top six in the event and a half dozen that crossed the line among the top 15 overall in the 49-man field. Freshman Mike Medrano earned a bronze medal in 4:19.91, while fellow frosh Brady Hand placed sixth in 4:22.15.
Meanwhile, Cardenas clocked a personal-record 1:55.36 en route to his victory in the 800m. The Converse native edged Texas State's William Taudien by 13 hundredths of a second to top the 60-man field.
The pair later went on to record career bests in the 3k with Chiuminetta finishing 12th in 8:46.07. Cardenas was five spots behind his teammate in 8:48.22.
In the field, senior Kyle Kaase tied his program pole vault record with a 16-4 ¾ (5.00m) clearance during the heptathlon and the Spring native finished third (second among collegians) in the two-day, seven-event competition with 4,918 points. He sits atop the Southland Conference leaderboard in the pole vault and ranks second in the heptathlon.
The Roadrunners also received a pair of silver-medal performances from newcomers Kerry Thompson and Taylor Reed but both finished as the meet's top collegian.
Thompson cleared a personal-best 6-10 ¾ (2.09m) in the high jump, while Reed registered a 15-11 in the pole vault. Both athletes stand second in the league in their respective events.
Freshman Keyunta Hayes was the Birds' other top performer, as he finished third in the 60m hurdles. The Tyler native skimmed the barriers in a season-best 8.00 to finish as the top collegian and improve his third-place standing on UTSA's all-time performer chart. He qualified for the final with the fifth-fastest preliminary heat time (8.16). Hayes is second on the conference's rankings behind Stephen F. Austin's Nick McLoud (7.89), who he defeated by nearly a half second in the final.
The Roadrunners will be back in action next weekend at the prestigious New Balance Invitational in New York City. The two-day meet begins on Friday, Feb. 4.
