SAN ANTONIO – The Roadrunners closed up shop at the 96th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and Bobcat Invitational on Saturday, saving some of the biggest performances for last. Led by the sprinters in the final day of this week’s competition, the UTSA track & field teams delivered several winners to cap of the week.
In UTSA’s final performance at Mike A. Myers Stadium and the 96th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, the Roadrunners rose to the challenge and delivered an event victory. The men’s 4x400-meter relay squad of Martín Kouyoumdjian, Noah Rhodes, Nabil Tezkratt and Mike Roth produced a combined 3:07.30 and drove to the second-fastest time in UTSA history. Coming down the stretch on the final leg after passing Oklahoma State, Roth raised his arms in victory as he raced past Purdue’s anchor in the final 50 meters to win the event’s final with a 45.96 leg time. It goes down as the second-fastest time in UTSA history and marks the third consecutive season that UTSA has a relay squad return to San Antonio a winner at the Texas Relays.
Earlier, in the men’s 100-meter Invitational, Dennis Phillips got after it with a steady tailwind, securing a wind-aided career best of 10.13 seconds to cross the line as the top collegiate finisher and sixth overall. His new personal best shifts his position in the all-time UTSA top five to the No. 2 slot and will only extend his existing placement atop the American Athletic Conference standings. In the men’s 200-meter Invitational, Brice Chabot also came in as the top NCAA DI finisher, and ninth overall, with a 20.72 clocking.
In further relay success for the Roadrunners on the final day in Austin, Roth and Tezkratt teamed up with Phillips and Chabot to earn second place in the men’s 4x200-meter relay, jumping to No. 2 on the UTSA all-time list with a 1:21.81 clocking, securing another UTSA ranking in the top-35 of the all-time list of collegiate 4x200m times available on the USTFCCCA's record database. The quartet came just .32 seconds short of the Roadrunners’ 2023 Texas Relays team that set the top UTSA historic mark. UTSA’s foursome only trailed Houston’s group (1:21.55) by .26 seconds, while beating out notable squads from Texas (1:22.33) and BYU (1:23.70).
In the lone UTSA field event of the final day at the meet, Gabriel Binion leapt to a career outdoor-best 15.53m (50-11.5) in the top section of the triple jump, earning sixth among collegiate performers and eighth overall. Teammate Dylan James reached 14.97m (49-01.5) for ninth collegiate standing and 11th overall in his first triple this outdoor season.
Back closer to home, UTSA’s best finish of the day at the Texas State Track & Field Complex was the final event of the Bobcat Invitational, as senior Amaya King added two inches to her career long in the shot put section A, her toss measuring 15.38m (50-5.5) for second place, while debuting at No. 4 on UTSA’s all-time list. Coming out of Mason, Ohio in her second year with the Roadrunners, King moves up two spots to third in the current American Athletic Conference rankings – also now the top UTSA performance this season in the event. Also in San Marcos, Madelen Sveinungsen opened Saturday’s action with a 1.61m (5-3.25) high jump mark to tie for 15th. In the back end of the day, Isabella Simonelli earned sixth place in the top section of the women’s hammer throw with a 54.78m (179-9) measurement. On the men’s side, Michael Campbell was 10th in the men’s shot put section A with a 15.95m (52-4) shove.
After a flurry of multi-day meets to open the outdoor season, the Roadrunners will catch their first break of the campaign, seeing an off week on the slate next week. UTSA will return to action on April 12-13 with a trip to Southern California for overlapping dates at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa and the Beach Invitational The final day of competition at both meets is on Saturday, with UTSA set for the triple jump and 4x400-meter final at the Texas Relays, while the Roadrunners will challenge in the hammer throw, high jump and shot put at the Bobcat Invitational.
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