MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Balanced results across the board helped two-time defending champion UTSA move to the top of the team standings on Saturday at the Conference USA Championships.
The Roadrunners, who entered the third day of the four-day meet in second place, took over the top spot when four of their throwers combined for 19 points in the discus.
Kelsey Benoit (159-4/48.57m) and Levi Jordan (158-9/48.39m) finished in second and third place, respectively, while Victor Perez (157-6/48.02) placed fifth and Tyler Finke (148-1/45.15m) was eighth. North Texas' Kevone Kennedy won the title with his toss of 161-11 (49.36m).
The advantage grew when UTSA saw three athletes score in the pole vault.
Chad Gates led the way with a fourth-place performance that saw him clear a personal-best 15-1 ¾ (4.62m). Meanwhile, Jerrod Young was one spot back in fifth (14-8/4.47m) and Adrian Riley scratched out a point with his eighth-place effort (14-2/4.32m).
The Roadrunners also received a combined five points in the high jump when defending champion Ty Anderson and Davante Edwards placed fifth and eighth, respectively. Anderson cleared 6-9 (2.06m), while Dawkins got over the bar at 6-7 (2.01m).
In the running event preliminary heats, UTSA saw seven entries move into Sunday's finals.
Leading the way were double qualifiers Justin Gerbrecht and Jurmarcus Shelvin.
Gerbrecht advanced in both hurdles events (14.19w/54.31), while Shelvin moved on in both the 400 meters (48.30) and 400m hurdles (54.60).
Patrick Prince (14.35) joined Gerbrecht in qualifying for the 110m hurdles (14.35) and Randy Bermea also earned a spot in the 400m hurdles (53.39), giving the Roadruners three of the eight entries in the final. Montgomery Bertschy will be UTSA's other finalist on Sunday, as he earned the 12th and final spot in the 1,500m (3:59.59).
The Roadrunners hold a slim 59-58 edge over second-place Charlotte through the first eight scored events, while North Texas sits in third with 49 points. Rice (41.5) and meet host Middle Tennessee (38) round out the top five. Western Kentucky is in sixth place with 28 points, but the Hilltoppers had 14 entries advance to Sunday's running finals.
The meet will conclude on Sunday and a victory not only would give UTSA its third consecutive C-USA crown (seventh league title overall in program history/sixth since the 2008 campaign), but it also would mark the 11th year in a row that the program has claimed either an indoor or outdoor championship. All the action is scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m.
