CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The UTSA track & field teams won eight medals on the final day of the Air Force Reserve Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Irwin Belk Track & Field Center.
The men registered six podium finishes Sunday, led by runner-up showings from Luca Chatham in the 800 meters, Patrick Prince in the 110m hurdles and the 4x400m relay squad. The Roadrunners claimed 10 for the meet, including a gold in the decathlon from Gary Haasbroek, who was named C-USA Outdoor co-Freshman of the Meet to give him a sweep of that award this year.
UTSA finished third with 100 points in the team standings, holding off WKU (99) and Southern Miss (93) to secure its sixth straight top-three league finish.
The women scored a pair of medals on Sunday, including a school record-setting performance by Danielle Spence, and ended up 10th in the team race with 43.5 points.
Spence improved her own record in the triple jump with a mark of 13.42m (44-0 ½), which bettered her previous outdoor school record of 13.36m (43-10) set at the Roadrunner Invitational in March. After opening with a 12.68m (41-7 ¼) effort, the sophomore from Jamaica skipped to a 13.09m (42-11 ½) to take the lead away from Rice's Michelle Fokam, only to see Fokam reclaim the top spot with a 13.32m (43-8 ½) measurement on her third try.
With the triple jump down to the final sixth and final attempt, Spence again moved into the lead with her record setter. However, Fokam measured 13.48m (44-2 ¾) on the final jump of the competition to grab gold and leave Spence, the C-USA Indoor champion, with the silver.
Spence also led off for the 4x100m relay team that won a bronze medal in the first track event of the morning. She joined Vera Chinedu, Olivia Esemena and Sydney Howells to clock a 46.22 in a race that saw four teams not finish, including Charlotte and Middle Tennessee, who were in a battle for the top spot until the two anchor legs brushed each other and dropped their batons.
On the men's side, Chatham provided arguably the moment of the day when he used a strong finishing kick over the final 200 meters to nearly catch Middle Tennessee's Trevon Sanders at the finish line. Chatham, a senior from Dallas, clocked a 1:50.96 to finish second behind Sanders' 1:50.95 in a photo finish.
UTSA tallied 11 total points in the 800m, as Zack Kovar crossed sixth in 1:53.23.
Meanwhile, Prince added another medal to his collection in the 110m hurdles. The senior from Conroe, Texas, raced to a season-best time of 13.95 for second place behind Southern Miss' Caleb Parker (13.82). The two-time defending champion in the event, Prince's Saturday preliminary race was his first action since March 23 and the silver was his fifth league medal in the hurdles.
Justin Gerbrecht placed fifth with a season-best 14.39 clocking to help the Roadrunners accumulate 12 points in the 110m hurdles.
Andre Douglas got the day started with a bronze-medal performance in the triple jump. The sophomore from Jamaica skipped to a mark of 15.31m (50-2 ¾) on his first attempt and held on for third place in an event won by John Warren of Southern Miss (16.01m/52-6 ½).
UTSA received a fifth-place effort from Haasbroek in the pole vault, as the freshman from Australia cleared 5.06m (16-7 ¼), while Mike Zuniga posted an eighth-place mark of 14.69m (48-2 ½) in the shot put.
On the track, the men posted four points after Davante Edwards, Mikael Dawkins, Kaleb Campbell and Jared Taylor passed the baton to a time of 40.91 for fifth place in the 4x100m relay.
Monty Bertschy then scratched for a point with an eighth-place time of 3:58.67 in the 1,500m before Prince and Gerbrecht added 12 in the 110m hurdles.
Vasha Sheriff crossed third in a tight 400m race, as the senior circled the oval in a season-best time of 46.51 that saw the top three separated by just one-half of a second.
Later on in the running finals, Andrew Pirog and Gerbrecht added 10 points in the 400m hurdles. Pirog, a junior out of San Antonio Reagan High School clocked a personal-best time of 51.32 for third place, while Gerbrecht, a senior from Houston, turned in a season best 53.14 for fifth.
Pirog anchored the 4x400m relay to a silver medal in the final race of the day. Chris Rosales, Austin Crocker, Sheriff and Pirog nipped Middle Tennessee by just .25 seconds for second place with a season best 3:10.30 clocking. That result helped the Roadrunners hold off WKU, who won the 4x4 in 3:04.50, for third place in the team standings by one point.
In women's action in the field, Maia Campbell and Lacee Barnes combined to score seven points in the shot put. Campbell, a junior from Converse Judson High School, opened with a mark of 14.27m (46-10) before unleashing a 14.29m (46-10 ¾) measurement on her second heave to end up in fourth place. Barnes, who hails from the Cayman Islands, measured 13.64m (44-9) for the seventh spot.
On the track and following the 4x1's third-place finish, Darionne Gibson timed 55.23 for seventh place in the 400m and Esemena sped to an 11.71 clocking for fifth in the 100m.
Brooke Lomax then scratched for one point in the 800m by finishing eighth in 2:16.87 before Orla Brothers placed seventh in the 400m hurdles with a 1:03.72 clocking.
Esemena came back on short rest to score a sixth-place finish in 24.32 in the 200m and the 4x400m relay quartet of Sierra Andres, Ola Brothers, Lomax and Gibson took eighth place with a season-best time of 3:43.86.
Charlotte swept the team titles, scoring 155 points on the men's side to place ahead of Middle Tennessee (117) and tallying 103.5 points to edge UTEP (102) for the women's crown.
The Roadrunners now will turn their attention to the NCAA West Preliminary Round on May 23-25 in Sacramento, Calif.
UTSA Results (Sunday)
Men
400 Meters
3. Vasha Sheriff 46.51
800 Meters
2. Luca Chatham 1:50.96
6. Zack Kovar 1:53.23
1,500 Meters
8. Monty Bertschy 3:58.67
12. Christopher Wise 4:10.55
5,000 Meters
25. Josh Rodriguez 15:55.40
110-Meter Hurdles
2. Patrick Prince 13.95
5. Justin Gerbrecht 14.39
400-Meter Hurdles
3. Andrew Pirog 51.32
5. Justin Gerbrecht 53.14
4x100-Meter Relay
5. Davante Edwards, Mikael Dawkins, Kaleb Campbell, Jared Taylor 40.91
4x400-Meter Relay
2. Chris Rosales, Austin Crocker, Vasha Sheriff, Andrew Pirog 3:10.30
Pole Vault
5. Gary Haasbroek 5.06m (16-7 ¼)
Triple Jump
3. Andre Douglas 15.31m (50-2 ¾)
11. Jamal Anderson 14.23m (46-8 ¼)
Shot Put
8. Mike Zuniga 14.69m (48-2 ½)
11. Steven Thomas 14.05m (46-1 ¼)
Javelin
14. Jake McDaniel 48.69m (159-9)
Women
100 Meters
5. Olivia Esemena 11.71
200 Meters
6. Olivia Esemena 24.32
400 Meters
7. Darionne Gibson 55.23
800 Meters
7. Brooke Lomax 2:16.87
5,000 Meters
31. Gabby Gonzales 18:52.47
400-Meter Hurdles
7. Orla Brothers 1:03.72
4x100-Meter Relay
3. Danielle Spence, Vera Chinedu, Olivia Esemena, Sydney Howells 46.22
4x400-Meter Relay
8. Sierra Andres, Orla Brothers, Brooke Lomax, Darionne Gibson 3:43.86
High Jump
11. Gabriyella Torres 1.60m (5-3)
Triple Jump
2. Danielle Spence 13.42m (44-0 ½)
Shot Put
4. Maia Campbell 14.29m (46-10 ¾)
7. Lacee Barnes 13.64m (44-9)
9. Cynthia Gonzales 12.65m (41-6)
18. Brenttany Birdow 10.90m (35-9 ¼)
Javelin
16. Chase Whiting 34.17m (112-1)
