SAN ANTONIO — Keyed by Alanah Yukich's win in the 400-meter hurdles, the UTSA women earned a runner-up finish in a battle for the team title that came down to the final race on Sunday at the Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Park West Athletics Complex.
Yukich's gold medal paced a total medal count of eight for the Roadrunners, who scored 118 points and saw their quest for the conference championship come down to the final event, the 4x400m relay.
Leading Charlotte 112-111 entering that race after Maddie Boswell finished fourth in 5,000m with a time of 16:52.19 in a race that saw the top four finishers topple the previous facility record, UTSA scored its eighth podium finish of the meet with a third-place finish in the 4x4. However, the 49ers crossed first in the race to end up with 121 points for the three-point advantage in the final team standings.
Yukich anchored that 4x4 to the bronze, joining Ibiso David-West, Marie Duvigneau and Creshaun Cresser for a time of 3:42.36, and the junior also posted an eighth-place finish in the 100m hurdles with a 13.80 clocking. The Perth, Australia, native provided one of the most memorable moments of the meet in the 400m hurdles, overcoming Marshall's Ashonti Warner with a lean and dive at the finish line to strike gold for the first time in her UTSA career. She stopped the clock in 57.93, just ahead of Warner's 58.04, to claim her sixth C-USA medal.
UTSA's runner-up team showing and 118 points were bests for the program in a conference outdoor meet since a runner-up finish with 139.5 points at the 2012 Southland Conference Championships.
The Roadrunners started the final day by scoring 14 points in the triple jump. Danielle Spence earned the silver medal and, while Oreoluwa Adamson and Ingeborg Gruenwald placed fifth and seventh, respectively.
Spence saved her best jump for last at the final home meet of her UTSA career, moving up from fourth place to second after breaking the sand at a distance of 13.15 meters (43-1.75) on her sixth trip down the runway. The Jamaican opened with a 12.91m (42-4.25) measurement that secured her a spot in the finals. After four consecutive fouls, the 2019 indoor All-American skipped to her best distance of the competition to earn her ninth career conference medal.
Adamson was fifth with a mark of 12.66m (41-6.5) and Gruenwald took seventh (12.63m/41-5.25).
Later in the afternoon session, UTSA added 13 points in the shot put behind Zoe Shanklin and Lacee Barnes. Shanklin captured the silver medal with a career-best mark of 15.36m (50-4.75), while Barnes was fourth with a 15.06m (49-5) measurement. Shanklin opened with a 14.06m (46-0) effort before logging her personal best in the second round. Barnes saved her best throw for last to move up one spot into fourth.
In other field-event action, Marilis Remmel placed fifth in the javelin with a throw of 45.63m (149-8).
Those results put UTSA in first place in the team race with 59 points through nine events, 12 ahead of Rice and 16 in front of Middle Tennessee.
Sigrid Kleive added a fourth-place finish in the final field event of the day with a 1.73m (5-8) clearance in the high jump.
The Roadrunners opened the track events with a fifth-place finish in the 4x100m relay, as the quartet of David-West, Thennelle Williams, Geraldy Barron and Vera Chinedu passed the baton around the oval to a time of 46.04.
Duvigneau and Cresser added eight points in the 400m, placing fourth (55.02) and sixth (57.01), respectively.
Williams, who was named C-USA Freshman of the Meet, then secured the silver medal in the 100m with a time of 11.53, good to vault the Jamaican into the No. 5 spot on UTSA's all-time performers list in the event.
Brooke Lomax provided three more points with a sixth-place time of 2:12.12 in the 800m before Yukich's win and Mackenzie Grimes' fifth-place finish in the 400m hurdles tacked on an additional 14.
The short turnaround to the 200m was no problem for Williams, as she sped to a fourth-place time of 24.21 to help keep UTSA in the fight for the team crown entering the 5,000m.
The Roadrunners will await word of who qualifies for the NCAA West Preliminary Round, which is set for May 25-28 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
UTSA Results
100 Meters (prelims)
2. Thennelle Williams 11.71Q
12. Vera Chinedu 11.95
100 Meters (final)
2. Thennelle Williams 11.53
200 Meters (prelims)
4. Thennelle Williams 23.95Q
17. Vera Chinedu 24.76
200 Meters (final)
4. Thennelle Williams 24.21
400 Meters (prelims)
4. Marie Duvigneau 55.33q
7. Creshaun Cresser 55.87q
11. Ibiso David-West 56.81
12. Geraldy Barron 56.98
19. Kaylyn Landry 59.31
400 Meters (final)
4. Marie Duvigneau 55.02
6. Creshaun Cresser 57.01
800 Meters (prelims)
9. Brooke Lomax 2:11.53q
22. Maddy Blair 2:23.66
800 Meters (final)
6. Brooke Lomax 2:12.12
1,500 Meters (prelims)
10. Abby Balli 4:42.04q
1,500 Meters (final)
10. Abby Balli 4:37.89
5,000 Meters
4. Maddie Boswell 16:52.19
10,000 Meters
3. Maddie Boswell 35:32.44
100-Meter Hurdles (prelims)
5. Alanah Yukich 13.74Q
100-Meter Hurdles (final)
8. Alanah Yukich 13.80
400-Meter Hurdkes (prelims)
2. Alanah Yukich 59.81Q
5. Mackenzie Grimes 1:00.11q
15. Joy Baxter 1:04.81
17. Maren Wilms 1:06.97
400-Meter Hurdkes (final)
1. Alanah Yukich 57.93
5. Mackenzie Grimes 1:00.32
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
12. Sidney Bravo 12:04.57
4x100-Meter Relay
5. UTSA (Ibiso David-West, Thennelle Williams, Geraldy Barron, Vera Chinedu) 46.04
4x400-Meter Relay
3. UTSA (Ibiso David-West, Marie Duvigneau, Creshaun Cresser, Alanah Yukich) 3:42.36
High Jump
4. Sigrid Kleive 1.73m (5-8)
13. Maren Wilms 1.55m (5-1)
Long Jump
2. Ingeborg Gruenwald 6.37m (20-10.75)
7. Oreoluwa Adamson 5.98mw (19-7.5)
8. Sigrid Kleive 5.97m (19-7)
9. Danielle Spence 5.92m (19-5.25)
Triple Jump
2. Danielle Spence 13.15mw (43-1.75)
5. Oreoluwa Adamson 12.66mw (41-6.5)
7. Ingeborg Gruenwald 12.63mw! (41-5.25)
Shot Put
2. Zoe Shanklin 15.36m (50-4.75)
4. Lacee Barnes 15.06m (49-5)
Discus
6. Lacee Barnes 46.99m (154-2)
15. Acacia Astwood 38.89m (127-7)
Hammer Throw
10. Acacia Astwood 50.93m (167-1)
Javelin
5. Marilis Remmel 45.63m (149-8)
10. Sigrid Kleive 42.64m (139-10)
Heptathlon
2. Maren Wilms 4,826 — 100-Meter Hurdles (15.49/778); High Jump (1.62m [5-3.75]/759); Shot Put (9.83m [32-3]/518); 200 Meters (26.99/713); Long Jump (5.88m [19-3.5]/813); Javelin (30.03m [98-6]/477); 800 Meters (2:24.15/768)
-UTSA-
