AUSTIN — Randy Bermea clocked the fastest 400-meter hurdles preliminary heat time, Jurmarcus Shelvin placed third in the same event and Dusan Makevic raced to a silver medal in the 3,000m steeplechase to lead UTSA on Thursday at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Bermea circled the Mike A. Myers Stadium oval in a personal-best 50.56 in topping the field of 79 hurdlers. That mark was three-tenths of second better than his previous career best of 50.86 registered during his sophomore season at Cal and the 50.88 he recorded two weeks ago at the season-opening UTSA Invitational. Tonight's time now ranks sixth nationally this spring and fourth on the program's all-time performers chart.
He will be joined in Friday's 7:05 p.m. final by Shelvin, who crossed the finish line in 50.80, which was the third-fastest prelims time of the evening. UTSA's All-American, who owns the nation's third-best clocking (50.21), now has finished either first or second in all three of his 400m hurdles races this spring.
Meanwhile, Makevic raced to the second-best time in school history, an 8:52.86, en route to placing second to BYU's Aaron Fletcher (8:47.20) in the steeplechase. That shaved nearly 11 seconds off his previous PR of 9:03.34 that he established last year at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach, Calif. That mark now tops the Conference USA standings and currently ranks fourth in the country.
The four-day meet will continue on Friday.