SAN ANTONIO — UTSA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox on Monday announced that the program has added seven signees to the 2021 class.
The Roadrunners will welcome Karoli Kaart, Dane Roets, Madeline Vondra and Thennelle Williams to the women's team and TreVion McCalla, Diego Pettorossi and Dennis Phillips to the men's squad beginning with the 2021-22 season.
"We are really excited about all seven of these signees," Fox said. "This group really bolsters our signing class and adds a lot of talent to our roster in several different events. We're looking forward to having all of our newcomers on campus soon so that we can help them achieve success both athletically and academically."
Karoli Kaart (Sprints | Vääna-Jõesuu, Estonia)
National champion sprinter in her native Estonia … clocked a personal-best time of 11.67 seconds in the prelims of the 100 meters at the 2021 Estonian Championships … ran a wind-aided 11.64 to capture gold in the national final … also won the 100m in 11.67 at the Estonian U23 Championships … finished 23rd in 11.82 at the 2021 European U23 Championships … posted an outdoor 200m PB of 24.74 in a runner-up showing at the 2020 Estonian Cup … raced to a career best 7.44 to win the 60m at the 2021 Estonian Indoor Championships … clocked an indoor 200m PR of 24.64 at the 2020 Estonian U23 Championships … swept the 60m, 100m and 200m Estonian U23 crowns in 2020 … claimed Estonian U20 titles in the 60m, 100m and 200m in 2019.
TreVion McCalla (Sprints | Humble, Texas/Atascocita HS)
Two-time Texas Class 6A Region III sprint champion as a senior at Humble Atascocita High School … won the 100m regional crown with a time of 10.27 and sped to a 20.94 to cross first in the 200m … clocked a wind-aided time of 10.18 to place fifth in the 100m at the 2021 Texas Class 6A state meet … placed seventh in the 200m in the state final with a 21.20 clocking … won the area crown in the 100m in 10.80 and was runner-up in the deuce (21.63) … raced in the NSAF Nationals at Hayward Field in Oregon in July 2021 … clocked a 10.50 to place third in the 100m at the 2020 Bubba Fife Relays.
Diego Pettorossi (Sprints | Bologna, Italy/Angelo State)
All-America sprinter at Angelo State … placed sixth in the 200m (21.63) at the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor … clocked a collegiate personal-best time of 10.57 in the 100m at the David Noble Relays and matched that performance in a sixth-place showing at the conference meet ... ran on the Rams' 4x100m relay team that placed third at the national meet in 2021 … owns PRs of 6.80 in the 60m, 10.52 in the 100m and 20.92 in the 200m … broke the 21-second barrier in the deuce three times on the Italian summer circuit including his PB 20.92 at the High Speed League Pista Atletica in Sestriere … recorded his 100m career best at the Italian Club Championships in 2019.
Dennis Phillips (Sprints | Plano, Texas/Prestonwood Christian HS/TCU)
Transfer from TCU … competed in six meets for the Horned Frogs in 2021 … ran on the winning in the 4x100 relay at the TCU Invitational … notched a fifth-place finish in the 200m at the Baylor Invitational … clocked a personal-best time of 10.52 seconds in the 100m and a wind-aided 21.20 in the 200m at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships … posted a PB of 6.85 in the 60m at the Texas Tech Invitational … finished fourth in the indoor 200m in 21.39 at the Aggie Invitational … standout for Prestonwood Christian High School in Plano … clocked prep career best times of 10.66 in the 100m and 21.39 in the 200m … set school records in both sprints and with the 4x100m and 4x200m relays … finished second in the 200m (21.61) and third in the 100m (10.69) at the TAPPS state meet as a sophomore.
Dane Roets (Throws | Roodepoort, South Africa)
Standout thrower from South Africa who will join the UTSA roster in January 2022 … posted a personal-best shot-put mark of 16.12 meters (52-10.75) in a bronze-medal performance at the 2021 South African University Championships … logged five wins in the shot put and four victories in the discus on the 2021 outdoor circuit … measured 15.92m (52-2.75) to win the shot at the 2021 ACNW Open … unleashed a career-best discus throw of 49.78m (163-4) to claim gold at the 2021 AGN League 2 U20 meet … won the ACNW Open discus title with a 47.88m (157-1) measurement … piled up a combined 16 wins in the shot put and discus in 2019-20.
Madeline Vondra (Distances | Fort Worth, Texas/Arlington Heights HS/Texas)
Transfer from Texas … bronze medalist in the 5,000m (PB 16:16.43) and 10,000m (34:30.14) at the 2021 Big 12 Outdoor Championships … won the 10,000m with a personal best 33:55.72 at the 2021 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays … placed third in the 5,000m (16:49.93) and fifth in the 3,00m (9:42.24) at the 2021 Big 12 Indoor … qualified for the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary Round in the 5,000m and 10,000m … covered 6k in 21:35.4 for 16th place at the 2020 Big 12 Cross Country Championships … clocked a 21:31.6 for 18th at the 2019 NCAA South Central Regional ran 22:04.6 for 6k at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships … finished 21st in 21:06.9 at the 2018 Big 12 Cross Country Championships … also ran at the regional and national meets that fall … named to the 2020 Academic All-Big 12 First Team … competed for Texas A&M as a freshman in 2017-18 … crossed second in the 5,000m at the Ted Nelson Invitational in her indoor debut … won the 5,000m at the Michael Johnson and LSU invitationals in 2018.
Thennelle Williams (Sprints/Hurdles | St. Catherine, Jamaica)
Standout sprinter and hurdler from Jamaica … sped to a career-best time of 11.68 to finish fifth in the 100m at the 2021 Jamaican U20 Championships … raced to an 11.91 in the prelims … clocked a personal best 23.97 to win the 200m at the 2021 Central Athletics Championships … registered an 11.79 in the 100m at that same meet … turned in a PB of 14.89 in the 100m hurdles at the 2021 JAAA Qualification Trials … ran on the winning 4x100m relay team that passed the baton to a time of 45.44 at the 2021 ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships … posted an indoor 55m PR of 7.07 in 2019.
-UTSA-
