SAN ANTONIO – It was a record-filled opening day for the UTSA track & field team, which kicked off the 2024 indoor campaign with competitors at two different sites over 1,600 miles apart at the Bellarmine Open in Kentucky and the Lumberjack Team Challenge in Arizona. On the day, UTSA collected 18 medals between the two meets, locking up three meet records, two program records and an American Athletic Conference record-breaking debut in the long jump from freshman Ida Breigan.
Taking in her first collegiate competition at Northern Arizona’s meet at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Breigan came through with a major leap on her third pass, hitting a mark of 6.47m (21-2.75 ft.) to not only surpass teammate Oreoluwa Adamson’s (6.46m) 2023 record, but also deliver the best indoor women’s long jump mark in American Athletic Conference history. Breigan arrived at UTSA in the fall, fresh off winning both the 2023 Norwegian Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Breigan finished her first NCAA performance with the third-best NCAA indoor mark of the early season.
Overshadowed by the winning jump, freshmen Mia Lien (6.21m/20-4.5 ft.) and Edlin Laur (5.66m/18-7 ft.) claimed the next two long jump medals for UTSA.
Out at Louisville’s Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center for Bellarmine’s competition, junior Ayumi Kobayashi kicked off the day for UTSA with a meet-record 8.71 in winning the women’s 60m hurdles. A pair of additional meet records followed as junior Mike Roth earned gold in the 400m with a time of 47.95, quickly followed by a second record-breaking gold in the 200m at 21.40. Just steps behind Roth in both races, junior Noah Rhodes produced personal bests with the silver in the 400m (48.57) and bronze in the 200m (22.18).
Also in Flagstaff, junior Dennis Phillips picked up the gold on a personal-best 6.66 in the 60m, just ahead of classmate Brice Chabot, in second at 6.78.
Making her maiden UTSA appearance, Madelen Sveinungsen earned second in the high jump with a height of 1.68m (5-6 ft.), while Gabriel Binion collected third in the long jump with a 7.35m (24-1.5 ft.) on both his second and third passes.
The throws proved to be quite productive for the Roadrunners, as junior Michael Campbell notched a pair of bronze medals, hitting 18.65m (61-2.25 ft.) in the weight throw, then closing the night at 16.05m (52-8 ft.) in the shot put. Senior Isabella Simonelli earned second in the women’s weight throw on a personal-best release to 17.52m (57-5.75 ft.), while senior Zoe Shanklin also collected silver in the shot put with a 14.52m (47-7.75 ft.) toss.
Near the end of the night in Arizona, the Roadrunners picked up one more record as junior Thennelle Williams lopped .32 seconds off her best 60m time to put her name down as the UTSA indoor record-holder at 7.41 seconds.
The Roadrunners will return to action next week in Houston with a big in-state meet, taking on two days of competition at the Robert Platt Invitational on the banked track at Yeoman Fieldhouse, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27.
- UTSA -