MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Faith Roberson broke the meet and school records in the 400-meter hurdles and Maia Campbell shattered her own UTSA standard in the shot put in a winning effort on Sunday to help lead the women to a third-place finish at the Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium.
Sunday's record-setting performances by Roberson and Campbell helped guide the Roadrunners to their best finish at a conference outdoor meet in nine years. UTSA scored 106.75 points for third behind Middle Tennessee (150) and Rice (121.5) and ahead of fourth-place Charlotte (95.25) in the 13-team field. It marked the best finish and most points scored at a conference outdoor meet since a runner-up showing with 139.5 points at the 2012 Southland Conference Outdoor.
Roberson clocked a time of 56.89 seconds to narrowly beat teammate Alanah Yukich, who crossed in 57.00, to the finish line and grab the gold medal. The two-time C-USA Track Athlete of the Week improved by nearly one full second her previous program standard of 57.54 set at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, and her clocking eclipsed the C-USA Outdoor meet record of 57.59 established by UCF's duo of Sandy Jean-Claude and Jackie Coward in 2011. The Wall, Texas, native now ranks eighth in the NCAA and fourth on the latest NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifying list.
Yukich's 57.00 was good for second, comfortably ahead of third-place finisher Lisa Petkov of UAB (58.89). The Perth, Australia, native posted an improvement from her previous PR of 57.57 clocked on April 24 at the J. Fred Duckett Twilight. Her time, which also was faster than the 10-year-old meet record, currently stands 11th in the nation and fourth on the West qualifying list.
Roberson and Yukich, who also placed sixth (14.09) and fifth (13.98), respectively, in the 100m hurdles final, headlined a quartet of Roadrunners that finished in the top eight in the 400m hurdles, giving UTSA 21 points in that event alone. Mackenzie Grimes finished seventh in 1:03.40 and Maren Wilms crossed eighth in 1:05.54.
Earlier in the day, Campbell smashed her own UTSA record in the shot put with a winning measurement of 17.33m (56-10.25). After opening with marks of 15.72m and 16.42m, the senior from Converse Judson High School unleashed her record-setting heave to move ahead of Rice's Erna Gunnarsdottir and into first place, where she remained to capture her second gold and third overall conference medal.
Campbell's victorious mark bettered her own school record of 15.95m (52-4) set earlier this season by more than four feet and it also eclipsed her overall shot put PR of 16.12m (52-10.75) set in winning the 2020 C-USA Indoor crown. Her measurement currently ranks 12th nationally and eighth on the latest NCAA West qualifying list.
Campbell and Roberson joined Amaya Scott, who scored 5,516 points to win the heptathlon on Friday, in the winner's circle while the Roadrunners logged seven total podium finishes at the meet.
Another one of those medal-performances came in the javelin on Sunday, as Marilis Remmel collected her first career C-USA medal with a third-place throw of 46.56m (152-9). The school record-holder at 47.65m posted her top throw of the afternoon on her third attempt to finish just ahead of fellow freshman Sigrid Kleive, who was fourth with a personal-best throw of 45.72m (150-0). Scott tacked on two points by finishing seventh with a toss of 39.74m (130-4).
Lacee Barnes picked up points in her second event of the week with a sixth-place mark of 14.06m (46-1.5) in the shot put. The Cayman Islands native was seventh in the discus with a throw of 45.26m (148-6) on Saturday.
The horizontal jumps also provided a boost for the Roadrunners all weekend. Oreoluwa Adamson and Danielle Spence finished fourth (12.65m/41-6) and seventh (12.62m/41-5), respectively in the triple jump on Sunday. Adamson also collected a bronze medal in the long jump with a leap of 6.17m (20-3) on Saturday, placing just behind fellow freshman Ingeborg Gruenwald, who was second with a mark of 6.36m (20-10.5).
On the track, Taylor Armstrong sped to a fourth-place finish in the 200m final. The DeSoto High School product clocked a time of 24.23 one day after posting a personal-best time of 24.20 in the prelims.
Armstrong also ran on both relay squads on Sunday. She was the second leg on the seventh-place 4x100-meter relay team, joining Adamson, Gruenwald and Vera Chinedu for a time of 45.75. She then helped close out the meet by taking the baton third after Chinedu and Brooke Lomax, before handing off to Yukich, who brought the quartet home in 3:46.12.
In other Sunday action, Maren Wilms cleared 1.65m (5-5) for a seventh-place showing in the high jump.
The Roadrunners will return to action on May 26-29 when they head to College Station for the NCAA West Preliminary Round.
UTSA Results
100 Meters (prelims)
10. Vera Chinedu 11.96
200 Meters (prelims)
5. Taylor Armstrong 24.20Q
15. Vera Chinedu 25.05
200 Meters (final)
4. Taylor Armstrong 24.23
400 Meters (prelims)
12. Creshaun Cresser 58.45
800 Meters (prelims)
9. Brooke Lomax 2:12.84
16. Sofia Salinas 2:16.31
1,500 Meters (prelims)
7. Abby Balli 4:35.50q
17. Amber Boyd 4:48.84
20. Chante Dixon 4:53.10
1,500 Meters (final)
9. Abby Balli 4:37.81
5,000 Meters
17. Abby Balli 18:14.37
- Chante Dixon DNF
100-Meter Hurdles (prelims)
3. Alanah Yukich 13.93Q
4. Faith Roberson 14.11q
100-Meter Hurdles (final)
5. Alanah Yukich 13.98
6. Faith Roberson 14.09
400-Meter Hurdles (prelims)
2. Faith Roberson 1:00.13Q
3. Alanah Yukich 1:00.80Q
6. Mackenzie Grimes 1:02.58q
7. Maren Wilms 1:03.00q
400-Meter Hurdles (final)
1. Faith Roberson 56.89
2. Alanah Yukich 57.00
7. Mackenzie Grimes 1:03.40
8. Maren Wilms 1:05.54
4x100-Meter Relay
7. Oreoluwa Adamson, Taylor Armstrong, Ingeborg Gruenwald, Vera Chinedu 45.75
4x400-Meter Relay
6. Vera Chinedu, Brooke Lomax, Taylor Armstrong, Alanah Yukich 3:46.12
High Jump
7. Maren Wilms 1.65m (5-5)
10. Sigrid Kleive 1.65m (5-5)
12. Amaya Scott 1.60m (5-3)
Long Jump
2. Ingeborg Gruenwald 6.36m (20-10.5)
3. Oreoluwa Adamson 6.17m (20-3)
7. Sigrid Kleive 6.00m (19-8.25)
12. Maren Wilms 5.70m (18-8.5)
13. Amaya Scott 5.70m (18-8.5)
22. Danielle Spence 5.38m (17-6.25)
- Johanna Soover NM
Triple Jump
4. Oreoluwa Adamson 12.65m (41-6)
7. Danielle Spence 12.62m (41-5)
11. Ingeborg Gruenwald 12.23m (40-1.5)
12. Johanna Soover 12.19m (40-0)
Shot Put
1. Maia Campbell 17.33m (56-10.25)
6. Lacee Barnes 14.06m (46-1.5)
12. Amaya Scott 12.72m (41-8.75)
Discus
7. Lacee Barnes 45.26m (148-6)
12. Maia Campbell 40.39m (132-6)
Hammer
- Maia Campbell FOUL
Javelin
3. Marilis Remmel 46.56m (152-9)
4. Sigrid Kleive 45.72m (150-0)
7. Amaya Scott 39.74m (130-4)
Heptathlon
1. Amaya Scott 5,516 — 100-Meter Hurdles 14.72 (879); High Jump 1.72m/5-7.75 (879); Shot Put 13.86m/45-5.75 (785); 200 Meters 26.27 (774); Long Jump 5.78m/18-11.75 (783); Javelin 38.82m/127-4 (645); 800 Meters 2:23.96 (771)
4. Maren Wilms 5,000 — 100-Meter Hurdles 15.06 (834); High Jump 1.63m/5-4.25 (771); Shot Put 10.07m/33-0.5 (534); 200 Meters 26.58 (747); Long Jump 5.82m/19-1.25 (795); Javelin 31.25m/102-6 (500); 800 Meters 2:20.34 (819)
-UTSA-
