SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA track & field teams concluded the weekend at two meet sites on Saturday, closing up shop at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston and the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque. Much like Friday’s results that saw four records fall, an international record snapped and UTSA take over a pair of top spots in the American Athletic Conference event rankings. On Saturday, the Roadrunners added another new school record, another international record and put forward strong finishes at the elite meet in New Mexico.
Highlighting a pair of medalists on Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center Indoor Track, Sydney, Australia junior Gabriel Binion returned from setting the long jump school record with a 15.86m (52-0.5) leap in the triple jump to win the event. Classmate and fellow Australian Dylan James finished fourth in the event standings but was the third collegiate finisher with a career-best 15.64m (51-3.75).
The Invitational 400-meter was also a fruitful event for the Roadrunners, as junior St. Thomas, Ontario junior Mike Roth broke his own quarter-mile record with a third-place time of 46.34, recording the top American Athletic Conference clocking just two weeks ahead of the indoor conference championships. Also in the 400m, freshman Martín Kouyoumdjian (Santiago, Chile) clocked a 47.71 in his first collegiate quarter-mile, finishing 11th while slicing .15 seconds off the Chilean Indoor National Record, set in 2017 by Sergio Aldea.
Currently sitting in the No. 2 spot in the UTSA 60-meter record book, junior Dennis Phillips advanced to the event final with a time of 6.73.
This weekend’s three meets served as the final regular season events for the Roadrunners. UTSA now turns attention to the program’s inaugural appearance at the American Athletic Conference Championships, coming up in Birmingham, Ala., Feb. 23-24 at the Birmingham Crossplex.
- UTSA -