SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women's track & field team will send six athletes that will compete in a total of three events to this weekend's NCAA Championships Preliminary Rounds. The three-day meet is scheduled to begin on Thursday at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas (click here for the complete schedule).
The Roadrunners will be represented by Jennifer Arinze (1,600m relay), Whitney Flannel (high jump), Paige Patterson (1,600m relay), Shantel Swift (400m/1,600m relay), Chelsea Taylor (1,600m relay) and Stephanie Wangui (800m).
Flannel comes into the meet with a season-best clearance of 5-10 ½ (1.79m), which came two weeks ago in a winning effort at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships. It marked the Roadrunners' third all-time crown in the event and first since the 1994 season. The senior from West Columbia has three gold medals during her final campaign and eight overall during her career.
Meanwhile, Wangui also is coming off a winning effort at the league meet with hers coming in the 800 meters (2:13.85). The junior from Leander owns a season-best time of 2:08.44, which came in another gold medal performance at April's J. Fred Duckett Twilight. She has four podium finishes in her specialty event this spring.
UTSA's 1,600m relay of Arinze, Patterson, Swift and Taylor registered a third-place effort at the C-USA Championships after passing the baton in a season-best time of 3:38.68, which was the second-fastest performance in school history.
Each field will be cut in half after the first round and top 12 finishers in the quarterfinals will advance to the NCAA Championships semifinals at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The final two rounds will be contested from June 10-13.