COLLEGE STATION — Dusan Makevic's victory in the 3,000 meters with his second program record in as many weeks highlighted UTSA's two days of action at this weekend's Charlie Thomas Invitational.
Makevic broke the tape in a school-record time of 8:08.35 to take home a gold medal in the field of 35 distance runners. That bested Olympian Roger Soler's 31-year-old mark of 8:10.09 established all the way back in 1985. It marked the second consecutive week that the senior from Sabac, Serbia, broke a long-standing school record and he now sits atop the Conference USA standings. The performance was nearly seven seconds faster than his previous career best of 8:15.27, which he clocked during his sophomore campaign at Louisiana-Monroe.
"My 3k time from today was faster than the previous UTSA school record," Makevic said. "It was a tough one and I'm extremely happy that I was able to break it. This performance, along with the 5k from Boston, confirms that I am in a great shape for the conference meet.
"It was a great meet for us today. The team looks very good and I'm really happy to see my teammates getting better every week because it keeps me motivated. It is really challenging competing at the top level every weekend. Some of us were really tired after the meet in Boston last week, but we still managed to show some great performances today.
The Roadrunners received a second-place performance in the shot put from Gabe Vargas for the second striaght meet. The senior from Moreno Valley, Calif., registered a measurement of 56-3 ¾ (17.16m) en route to his silver medal, as UTSA scored a combined 13 points in the event. Tyler Finke recorded a PR of 55-3 ¾ (16.86m) en route to fourth place and he now stands fourth in the league standings, which is two spots behind Vargas.
Meanwhile, Ty Anderson leaped to a bronze medal in the high jump with his clearance of 6-9 ¾ (2.08m).
Barrett Brock placed fifth in the pole vault with a season-best clearance of 15-7 ¼ (4.76m), a mark that moved him up to second place in the league leaderboard, and Patrick Prince also was fifth in the 60m hurdles (8.12).
Adrian Riley produced the fifth-best heptathlon score in program annals with his two-day total of 5,151 points and that was good for sixth place. That currently is the conference's top score this season.
The Roadrunners' other point came from its second 1,600m relay team, which passed the baton in 3:20.67.
"We were happy with how we competed this weekend," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox said. "The Conference USA Championships are almost upon us and we are making great improvements toward that meet. It was nice to see Dusan erase another school record, this time in the 3,000 meters. Overall, the meet was a success."
UTSA scored 42 points at the two-day meet and finished in seventh place in the team standings. Meet host Texas A&M claimed the team title with 176 points, while Clemson (89.5) and Baylor (69) rounded out the top three.
The Roadrunners will be back in action next Friday, Feb. 12, at the Howie Ryan Invtiational in Houston.