HOUSTON — Andrew Akens finished as the top collegian in the shot put to lead the UTSA men's track & field team at Saturday's Houston Opener.
The junior from Mesquite finished second only to Hayden Baillio (unattached) with a career-long measurement of 59-2 ¼ (18.04m). That was the second-best mark in program history and four feet better than his previous career best established at last season's Western Athletic Conference Championships.
Meanwhile, Nathan Collier helped lead a Roadrunners 1-2-3 finish in the B section of the 800 meters. The senior from Pottsboro circled the Bill Yeoman Fieldhouse oval four times in 1:58.62, while Tony Jaramillo (2:00.04) and Nolawie Teshome (2:00.40) finished behind their teammate in second and third, respectively.
The squad's other podium finish came in the distance medley relay where Teshome, Eric Gosset, Harvinder Singh and Collier placed second in 10:28.13. The quartet missed a gold medal by just 19 hundredths of a second, as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was victorious in 10:27.94.
UTSA will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 18, at the Texas A&M 10-Team Invitational.