SAN ANTONIO — UTSA opened its outdoor season with five top-three finishes and the Roadrunners finished in fifth place at this weekend's UTSA Invitational, which concluded on Saturday at the Park West Athletics Complex.
Stephanie Wangui led the way with a second-place effort in the 800 meters, but she finished at the top collegian in the field of 19 middle distance runners. The senior from Leander crossed the finish line in 2:15.33, but Erica Twiss won the event in 2:06.44. Wangui later posted a fourth-place performance in the 1,500m after clocking a time of 4:49.06.
"I felt like it was a good start to the outdoor season despite the windy weather and the sudden temperature change," Wangui said. "I focused on one race at a time and learned that as long as I do my best, regardless of the circumstances, I will always perform well."
UTSA's 1,600m relay quartet of Evelyn Clark, Shantel Swift, Jennifer Arinze and Paige Patterson also earned a silver medal in the final event of the two-day meet. The foursome passed the baton in 3:43.48, which only was behind Kansas State's time of 3:42.90.
Earlier in the day, Arinze placed third in the 400m with a 56.15 clocking. Kansas State's Sonia Gaskin won the event in 55.37.
On Friday, Angel Sifuentes highlighted the opening day of action for UTSA, as she placed third in the javelin while extending her program record with a throw of 147-2 (44.87m). That was an improvement of more than four feet from her previous career best of 143-1 (43.62m), which was established during the 2014 campaign. Kansas State's Haley Pitko won with a toss of 153-7 (46.81m).
"I feel so blessed to be able to come out this weekend and set a school record for the second time after recovering from an Achilles injury a year ago," Sifuentes said. "I've been working so hard for this, but I'm definitely hungry for more. I'm excited for even greater things to come this season."
The Roadrunners' other bronze medal came from Grace Kohler, who crossed the finish line in 11:53.18 in the 3,000m steeplechase. Wichita State's Jordan Maestas won the rescheduled distance event in 11:41.97.
Other highlights included Caroline Bellows clearing 11-7 ¾ (3.55m) en route to fourth place in the pole vault, as she moved into third place on the program's all-time performers list. Meanwhile, Shalise Borden and Jemira Thomlinson moved into third- and fifth-place, respectively, on the hammer chart with their throws of 165-5 (50.42m) and 151-0 (46.03m). Borden placed seventh and Thomlinson was 11th in their first collegiate outdoor meet.
Wichita State won the team title with 148 points, while Stephen F. Austin (125) and Houston (106) rounded out the top three. UTSA scored 95.5 en route to fifth place.
The Roadrunners will host the inaugural Ricardo Romo Invitational next weekend. The three-day event is scheduled to get underway on Thursday, March 24.