COLLEGE STATION — Caroline Bellows won the women's pole vault with a personal-best effort to headline action for the UTSA track & field teams Friday at the Texas A&M Invitational at EB Cushing Stadium.
Bellows cleared a height of 3.88 meters (12-8 ¾) to take top honors in a field of 17 competitors on the opening day of the two-day meet. The senior from George West opened with a clearance of 3.28m on her first attempt and then topped 3.43m and 3.73m on her second try at each height before she skied over the bar at 3.88m on her second run. That performance bettered her outdoor previous personal record of 3.75m (12-3 ½) set at last year's Texas State Invitational and marked an improvement of her overall pole vault PR of 3.86m (12-8) established in a third-place finish at the Conference USA Indoor Championships earlier this year.
Maia Campbell collected a bronze medal for the women with a personal-best effort in the hammer throw. The junior out of Converse Judson High School measured 53.72m (176-3) on her sixth and final heave to improve her previous PR of 53.56m set at the Roadrunner Invitational last month.
Gary Haasbroek leaped to a runner-up finish in the long jump to highlight action for the men on Friday. The freshman from Australia broke the sand at a distance of 7.24m (23-9) on his first jump of the outdoor season to earn the silver medal.
Davante Edwards cleared 1.99m (6-6 ¼) to finish sixth in the high jump and Vincent Perez placed sixth in the hammer throw with a mark of 53.64m (176-0) in other action on the men's side.
In the team standings, the women are in third place with 20 points through four events, while the men are fourth with 14.
Saturday's action will start in the field with the men's pole vault at 3 p.m. Running events are slated to begin at 5:25 p.m. with the 4x100-meter relays.
