SAN ANTONIO — Joel McFarlane is in second place in the men's decathlon and Maren Wilms stands fifth in the women's heptathlon after the opening day of the UTSA Invitational, which kicked off Thursday at Park West Athletics Complex.
Making his outdoor debut for the Roadrunners, McFarlane has scored 3,711 points through the first five events and is only 93 points behind day-one leader Matas Adamonis of Kansas State (3,804) in the 15-man field.
The 2021 Conference USA Indoor silver medalist opened the 10-event competition by tallying 861 points after finishing second in the 100 meters with a time of 11.00 seconds. He then leaped to a distance of 7.09 meters (23-3.25) —also the second-best mark of the day — for 835 points in the long jump. After measuring 12.64m (41-5.75) for 645 points in the shot put, the Monikie, Scotland, native cleared 1.77m (5-9.75) for 601 points in the high jump before clocking a 51.03 for 768 points in the 400m.
Wilms accumulated 2,753 points through the first four disciplines in the heptathlon and is only 217 points behind fourth-place Avianna Goode of UTRGV (2,970).
Also is competing in her first outdoor meet in a UTSA uniform, Wilms clocked a 15.22 for 813 points in the 100m hurdles to start her day. The Melsbach, Germany, native then topped 1.57m (5-1.75) in the high jump for 701 points and posted a mark of 10.17m (33-4.5) in the shot put. Wilms closed out her first day with a 27.17 in the 200m for 698 points.
Friday's action will get underway with the heptathlon long jump and decathlon 110m hurdles at 10 a.m. Field events are slated to start at 2 p.m. with the women's hammer throw and the men's shot put, while the distance runners will take to the track at 8 p.m. for the 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m. No spectators are allowed at the meet due to COVID-19 protocols.
-UTSA-
