SAN ANTONIO – Two weeks of competition into the 2024 indoor season, the UTSA track & field teams head up to College Station and Texas A&M’s newly-constructed R.A. “Murray” Fasken '38 Indoor Track for the Charlie Thomas Invitational, Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3.
The last time out, UTSA totaled 14 individual top-10 finishes at the Robert Platt Invitational, last weekend in Houston.
This weekend’s event in College Station will set the Roadrunners on course to face performers from Abilene Christian, Arizona State, Houston, New Mexico Junior College, Oklahoma, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M, Texas State, Western Texas College and UCLA.
Competition will kick off on Friday, Jan. 2 with limited events, as the Distance Medley Relay runs at 5:30 p.m., followed by the 5,000-meter run, beginning at 6:15 p.m.
Saturday is a heavy slate in College Station, opening field events action with the men’s weight throw, pole vault and high jump at 1 p.m., the horizontal jumps follow, and the field events wrap with a 5:15 p.m. start on the women’s shot put. On the track, the 60-meter hurdles kicks things off at 3:20 p.m., working through 16 running events to a projected 7 p.m. finish on the 4 x 400-meter relays.
Leading the Roadrunners into action, juniors Dennis Phillips and Thennelle Williams will be looking to build on successful starts to their 2024 sprint seasons. An NCAA Preliminary competitor and two-time conference gold medalist last season, Phillips collected the win on a personal-best 6.66 clocking in the 60-meter at the season-opening Lumberjack Team Challenge. Williams also garnered a pair of conference medals and reached the NCAA Preliminary last spring, setting the UTSA indoor 60-meter record on a 7.41-second finish at the Lumberjack. Williams ran the 200-meter at last week’s Robert Platt Invite in a time of 24.59, just .10 off her indoor best. Highlighting last week’s competition in the field events, Isabella Simonelli collected the bronze medal in the women’s weight throw with a personal-best toss of 18.34m (60-2 ft.), while Dylan James was fourth in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 12.56m (50-0.75 ft.).
Attending or Following the Meet
Texas A&M’s new indoor home, Fasken Indoor Track debuted on Jan. 13, 2024, with the McFerrin-12 Degree Invite and features a 200-meter, six-lane (eight-lane sprint) track – a Mondo Super X 720 surface permanently banked at 12 degrees, adjacent to a pole vault runway and two jump runways with sand pits. The stadium seats 4,000.
Like all Texas A&M 2024 indoor meets, admission is free for those in attendance. Fans are encouraged to park in lot 100J by Blue Bell Park. Meet parking is $5 cash/card unless you have a valid Texas A&M parking permit to make it free.
Texas A&M will produce live results through Flash Results at the following links:
Friday Results | Saturday Results
Meet competition will also be streamed live on SECNetwork+ for ESPN+ subscribers. Via the following links, fans can watch live on both Friday and Saturday.
Up Next
After finishing up in College Station, the Roadrunners will send separate squads to three different meets next weekend: the Howie Ryan Invitational in Houston (Feb. 9), David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston (Feb. 9) and Don Kirby Elite Invitational (Feb. 10), the final meets ahead of the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, Feb. 23-24, in Birmingham, Ala.
- UTSA -