CORPUS CHRISTI — The UTSA men's track & field team got off to a successful start at Saturday's season-opening Country Inn & Suites Islanders Open, as the Roadrunners registered eight winning performances in the 14 events in which they had entries.
Leading the way was Taylor Reed, who broke his two-year-old program record in the pole vault. The senior from Tyler cleared 17-2 ¾ (5.25m) en route to winning by more than a foot and it added four inches to his previous school standard.
UTSA also received gold-medal efforts in four other field events.
All-American Richard Garrett Jr. picked up a pair of victories in his first outdoor action since the 2013 campaign. The Garland native easily won the shot put with a measurement of 62-1 ¼ (18.93m), which was an inch-and-a-quarter shy of his program mark, and he also was victorious in the discus with a toss of 169-8 (51.71m).
Meanwhile, Ronson Small skipped to a career-long 48-5 ½ (14.77m) leap in the triple jump and Phil Steinert threw the hammer 193-4 (58.93m). Both athletes also were returning from a one-year hiatus after redshirting last year.
Running event winners included Christopher Hall in the 200 meters (21.54w), Keyunta Hayes in the quarter (47.57) and the 400m relay of Aaron LeJeune, Nate Brunette, Small and James Johnson (41.18).
All told, the Birds recorded 12 other podium finishes at the one-day meet.
The Roadrunners will return to action next weekend when it hosts the two-day UTSA Texas Challenge Invitational at the Park West Athletics Complex. The program's first home meet since 1995 is scheduled to get underway on Friday, March 21.