EL PASO — Adrian Riley's second-place finish in the decathlon on Friday has helped the UTSA men's track & field team to fourth place in the team standings after three scored events at this weekend's Conference USA Championships.
Riley earned his silver medal with a personal-record 7,398 points, which was the second-best total in program history, and it moved him up from 29th to 23rd nationally. The junior from Kingston, Jamaica, saw his score bolstered by second-place performances in the discus (126-2/38.46m) and pole vault (PR 4.40m).
"This was a great way to start off the conference meet knowing that we have the fire power to win the team title," Riley said. "I am very happy with my performance. I need to keep up the hard work and look forward to nationals, if I make the cut off. I also would like to thank Coach (Aaron) Fox."
Meanwhile, Jake McDaniel picked up two additional points for the Roadrunners with his seventh-place finish. The freshman from Houston accumulated a career-best 6,461 points and he won the last discipline of the two-day, 10-event competition, the 1,500 meters (PR 4:42.26). McDaniel also recorded PRs in the pole vault (12-5 ½/3.80m) and javelin (161-8/49.27m).
Rice's Scott Filip captured the gold medal with a meet-record 7,837 points.
Vincent Perez also scored two points for UTSA with his seventh-place performance in the hammer. The sophomore from San Antonio registered a personal-record throw of 184-2 (56.14m), which was an improvement of nearly 10 feet from his previous career best, and it now ranks fifth on the school's all-time performers chart. Charlotte's Stevan Veselinovic successfully defended his league crown with his toss of 222-5 (67.79m), while Rice saw four of its athletes combine for 20 points in the event that featured 16 throwers.
Alex Cruz earned the squad's other score of the day when he scratched out a point in the 10k after crossing the finish line eighth in 32:37.84. Middle Tennessee's Jacob Choge raced to the gold medal in 30:06.76.
Rice leads the team standings with 35 points through three scored events. Meanwhile, meet host UTEP (18) and Middle Tennessee (15) round out the top three, while UTSA and Charlotte sit right behind in fourth with their 13 points.
"We are off to a great start at this weekend's conference meet," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox said. "I am looking forward to the team having a great weekend."
The four-day meet will continue on Saturday with five event finals (3,000m steeplechase/high jump/javelin/long jump/shot put) and preliminary heats in seven running disciplines.
