BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — UTSA freshman Jemuel Miller broke his own school record and finished sixth in the men's triple jump to earn first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday afternoon at Birmingham CrossPlex.
Miller saved his best jump for last, skipping to a mark of 16.17 meters (53-0.75) to move from eighth place and into sixth in the field of 16. A native of Barbados, he is the 19th All-American in the history of the men's program and the Roadrunners now boast 38 All-America certificates, including 11 indoor awards.
With his sixth-place showing, the Roadrunners tallied three points to finish in a tie for 47th in the team standings. This marks the first time the men have scored points at a national meet since posting eight to tie for 38th place at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor. Additionally, the last time the Roadrunners achieved that feat indoors was in 2013 when they recorded five points for a share of 40th place.
Miller nearly missed the final three rounds and his shot at first-team All-America accolades. After fouling on his first two attempts and sitting in 16th place, he logged a measurement of 15.92m (52-2.75) to climb all the way into eighth and earn three more tries.
On his fourth trip down the runway, Miller skipped to a 15.88m (52-1.25) mark and moved ahead of Virginia's Owayne Owens, who also owned a 15.92m jump but a shorter second-best leap. However, a foul in round five opened the door for Owens to move back in front with a 16.04m (52-7.5) effort.
Sitting in eighth with one jump remaining, Miller pulled out the best leap of his young UTSA career to move past Owens, who placed eighth (16.13m), and Salif Mane of Fairleigh Dickinson, who was one centimeter behind Miller with a top mark of 16.16m for seventh.
Miller's sixth-place performance is the top UTSA finish in the triple jump indoors and the program's second-highest placement in the event behind Devon Bond's fifth-place showing at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor.
Oregon's Emmanuel Ihemeje won the competition with a mark of 16.83m (55-2.75), while Miller ended up just four centimeters shy of fifth-place finisher Apalos Edwards of LSU (16.21m)
Miller claimed gold in the triple jump at the C-USA Indoor on Feb. 20 with a then-school-record mark of 16.09m (52-9.5), which broke Bond's 12-year-old program standard. He ranked 17th on the NCAA descending order list but a scratch earlier this week allowed him to be selected into the field.
On Friday night, sophomore Ingeborg Gruenwald collected second-team All-America accolades with a 13th-place leap of 6.24 meters (20-5.75) in the women's long jump. The two-time C-USA champion and school record-holder became the 14th All-American on the women's side and her performance marked the eighth indoor and 26th overall All-America certificate for that program.
The Roadrunners will open the outdoor season next Friday-Saturday, March 18-19, when they host the UTSA Invitational at Park West Athletics Complex.
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