COLLEGE STATION — UTSA received podium finishes from Kaylon Sellers and Kelsey Benoit for the second consecutive week to highlight Saturday's action at the Texas A&M Aggies Invitational.
Sellers finished second in the triple jump for the second week in a row with a leap of 47-11 ¾ (14.62m). Texas A&M's Jeffrey Prothro won the event with a measurement of 49-7 ¾ (15.13m).
Meanwhile, Benoit earned a bronze medal in the shot put for the second straight Saturday. Conference USA's leader registered a season-best mark of 57-9 ½ (17.61m), an improvement of more than a foot and four inches from last weekend. Georgia's Denzel Comenentia (59-11/18.26m) and Arizona State's Thomas Anderson (58-11 ½/17.97m) were the only two competitors to finish ahead of the Roadrunners junior in the field of 21 throwers.
UTSA finished the one-day meet with a bang, as it clocked the third-best time in program history in the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. The quartet of Andrew Pirog, Vasha Sheriff, Desmond Jefferson and Chris Rosales passed the baton in 3:11.97, which was good for fourth among the 15 relay teams.
"Today went well because of all the hard work my teammates and I put in every day at practice," Sheriff said. "I was really proud of the freshmen that stepped up to run the relay. Even though we were up against schools like Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Georgia, I didn't see an ounce of fear but instead determination. Above all,I'm really proud of everyone's performance at today's meet."
Victor Perez also placed fourth in the weight throw with a personal-record toss of 62-7 ¾ (19.09m) and that was an improvement of nearly a foot from his previous career best from a year ago (61-8 ¼/18.80m). The mark now ranks second in C-USA this season. Georgia's Alex Poursandis won the event with a measurement of 76-6 ½ (22.11m), which now stands as the nation's second-best mark this winter.
Patrick Prince finished eighth (8.52) in the 60-meter hurdles after qualifying for the final with the afternoon's fastest preliminary heats time. His clocking of 7.99 in the prelims vaulted him to the top of this year's league leaderboard.
"I was extremely happy with how we competed today," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox said. "Facing great competition, the team performed well and that bodes well as we prepare for next month's conference meet."
UTSA scored 34 points and finished sixth in the field of seven squads. Meet host Texas A&M racked up 150 points en route to the team title, while Texas Tech (106) and Georgia (104) rounded out the top three.
The Roadrunners will return to action next weekend at the Houston Invitational. The two-day meet is scheduled to get underway on Friday, Jan. 27.
