SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA track & field teams are not competing this weekend, so now it is time to take a look back at the 2019 season through the first three months.
January
Luca Chatham won the mile with a 4:10.82 clocking and Andre Douglas took top honors in the triple jump with a mark of 15.44 meters (50-8) to lead the UTSA men to fourth place at the season-opening Ted Nelson Invitational on Jan. 11-12 in College Station, Texas. Meanwhile, the distance medley relay team finished third to guide the women to seventh place in the team standings.
The second meet of the campaign saw the Roadrunners win nine events at the FasTrak Invitational on Jan. 19 in Houston. For the women, Orla Brothers crossed first in the 400m in 56.47 and anchored the 4x400m relay to a winning time of 3:51.56. Gabriyella Torres leaped to a gold-medal measurement of 5.76m (18-10 ¾) in the long jump and Charlette Janicek took top honors in the 3,000m in 11:12.99. The men registered five victories, including Gary Haasbroek in the long jump (24-9 ¼), Douglas (51-1 ¾) in the triple jump and Vincent Perez in the weight throw (61-3), Patrick Prince in the 60m hurdles (7.84) and Desmond Jefferson in the 400m (48.98).
Haasbroek and Danielle Spence stole the show the following weekend at the Houston Invitational. Haasbroek, a freshman from Melbourne, Australia, broke five records with a gold-medal performance in the heptathlon, while Spence shattered a 27-year-old school record in the women's triple jump. Haasbroek's point total of 5,949 eclipsed the UTSA, Australian national, meet and Bill Yeoman Fieldhouse heptathlon records and his long jump of 7.65m (25-1 ¼) on the first day of the competition also set a new school standard. Spence, a sophomore from Kingston, Jamaica, skipped to a winning mark of 13.09m (42-11 ½) to break the previous UTSA record of 12.67m (41-7) set by Portia Matthews in 1992. The pair swept C-USA Field Athlete of the Week honors for their performances.
February
Perez and Douglas led the way at the Charlie Thomas Invitational on the first weekend of February in the squad's second visit to Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in Aggieland. Perez measured 19.49m (63-11 ½) to claim top honors in the weight throw and he later was named C-USA Field Athlete of the Week for his effort, while Douglas broke the sand at a distance of 15.59m (51-1 ¾) to grab gold in the triple jump. Meanwhile, Maia Campbell finished fourth in the weight throw (59-5 ¾) and fifth in the shot put (47-1) to highlight the women.
The headline meet for the month of February was the C-USA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, where UTSA collected four gold medals, two on each side.
Chatham won the mile with a personal-best 4:10.09 clocking and finished with 17.5 points after claiming bronze in the 800m and anchoring the DMR to third place. Haasbroek posted 5,559 points to cruise to a win in the heptathlon and he was named C-USA Freshman of the Meet for his performance, as that pair helped lead the men to third place with 96 points, the program's fifth straight and 18th overall top-three league finish.
Spence took top honors in the triple jump, bettering her own school record with a 13.37m (43-10 ½) mark, and she also secured silver in the long jump with a 6.01m (19-8 ¾) effort in tallying 18 points to help lead the women to seventh place. Torres captured her first conference crown by scoring 3,772 points to win the pentathlon, while Caroline Bellows cleared a PR height of 3.86m (12-8) to finish third in the pole vault.
March
UTSA was represented by Haasbroek and Spence at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8-9 in Birmingham, marking the first indoor qualifiers for the men since 2013 and for the women since 2006. Haasbroek compiled 5,601 points to finish 10th in the heptathlon and earn second-team All-America accolades, becoming the first indoor All-American since Richard Garrett Jr. in 2013 and the first in the multi-events since Brandon Buteaux in 2006. Meanwhile, Spence placed 13th in the triple jump with a mark of 12.80m (42-0) for second-team All-America honors, the first for the women since Ryanne Dupree in 2006.
UTSA opened the outdoor season with a pair of home meets in March at Park West Athletics Complex.
The Roadrunners won five events during the UTSA Invitational on March 15-16. Chatham claimed top honors in the 1,500m with a PR of 4:00.54, while Caleb Devereaux crossed second overall and first among collegiate competitors in the 800m with a 1:54.42 clocking. Douglas led the triple jump wire-to-wire and claimed gold with a 15.44m (50-8) mark, while Prince sped to a win in the 110m hurdles in 13.98. Bellows was the top collegian in the women's pole vault with a clearance of 3.65m (11-11 ¾).
UTSA collected three wins at the Roadrunner Invitational the following week. Spence continued her record-setting ways with a wind-legal mark of 13.36m (43-10) to claim gold in the triple jump, marking the longest jump in UTSA and Park West Athletics Complex history. Brothers circled first in the women's 400m hurdles with a 1:00.44 and Jake McDaniel won the men's decathlon with 6,648 points.
The Roadrunners closed out the month with a partial squad competing at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin. Spence placed ninth among collegians in the triple jump with a leap of 13.01m (42-8 ¼), while Douglas was sixth among collegiate competition in the B section of the triple jump with a 15.09m (49-6 ¼) effort. Davante Edwards took 11th in the high jump with a season-best 2.04m (6-8 ¼) clearance. The 4x800m relay team of Zack Kovar, Chatham, Cameron Hudson and Monty Bertschy passed the baton to a time of 7:44.67 to place sixth on the final day of the meet.
Latest Rankings
The UTSA men currently own six marks that rank in the top three of the latest C-USA performance list entering action on April 6. Andrew Pirog boasts the top time in the 400m hurdles (52.51) and the 4x800m relay's 7:44.67 is the fastest time by more than 25 seconds. Prince stands second in the 110m hurdles (13.98), Douglas is second in the triple jump (15.44m/50-8) and McDaniel stands second in the decathlon (6,648), while Vincent Perez ranks third in the hammer throw (59.46m/195-1).
The women tote five top-three marks in the latest conference performance list. Brothers leads the league in the 400m hurdles (1:00.12), Spence owns the top triple jump mark (13.36m/43-10) and Torres is at the head of the pack in the heptathlon (5,001). Caroline Bellows stands third in the pole vault (3.70m/12-1 ½) and the 4x400m relay team of Erin Wilson, Brothers, Sierra Andres and Darionne Gibson is third (3:46.10).
Nationally, Spence ranks seventh in the triple jump and Torres owns the 16th-best heptathlon point total. For the men, McDaniel stands 20th in the decathlon, while Prince (110m hurdles) and Douglas (triple jump) both rank 21st.
UTSA will be back in action next Friday-Saturday, April 12-13, at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station.
