SAN ANTONIO – The Roadrunner long jumpers provided key scoring for the UTSA track & field team in Saturday’s American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Park West Athletics Complex. The UTSA sprinters and hurdlers captured multiple finals slots, while the long jumpers accounted for 29 Roadrunner points and throwers added seven more.
The first Roadrunner medal of the meet went to Fredrikstad, Norway freshman Ida Breigan in the women’s long jump. The All-American rookie snapped the Park West facility record on her first pass at 6.43m (21-1.25), sending her to the final in the top spot. However, SMU’s Funminiyi Olajide extended the leading position to 6.53m on her final approach to gain the edge. Breigan responded with a monster sixth jump, but just nicked the scratch by a hair to close out the final in second place.
The Roadrunner men leveled a heavy scoring presence in the men’s long jump, headed by Sydney, Australia junior Gabriel Binion, who secured his spot on the podium with a 7.65m (25-1.25) measurement on his second jump. South Florida’s Goodness Iredia countered with a 7.69m mark on his next pass and Binion collected the silver. Meanwhile, Roodepoort, South Africa junior Christiaan Le Roux used his sixth jump to rise into fourth on a 7.44m (24-5) mark, and Round Rock, Texas junior Jacob Jenkins followed with a sixth-attempt, season-best 7.27m (23-10.25) for fifth. Perth, Australia junior Dylan James rounded out the UTSA scoring pack with a 7.13m (23-4.75) final attempt to register a seventh-place finish.
In the men’s shot put, Silver Spring, Md. senior Jabari Bennett registered a season-best 17.89m (58-8.50) that put UTSA on the board with the fourth-place toss on his first attempt. Bloomfield, Conn. senior Michael Campbell’s fourth trip to the ring produced a 16.36m (53-8.25) measurement for seventh.
Kicking off the day’s running events with a finals qualifier, Funabashi, Japan senior Ayumi Kobayashi earned the automatic bid in the 100-meter hurdles, winning the third heat with a 13.57 clocking – the fourth-fastest time produced in the prelims.
Complementing Friday’s 200-meter photo-finish qualifying mark, St. Thomas, Ontario junior Mike Roth set the date for another appearance on Sunday, coasting to an easy fourth-heat victory in the 400-meter while clocking in at 46.91 – the third-fastest mark of the meet. Freshman teammate Martín Kouyoumdjian just missed the edge of the finals field, coming in ninth with a season-best 47.54 in the opening heat.
On to the 100-meter qualifiers, Ballymena, Northern Ireland junior Lauren Roy tied with North Texas’ Deja Shaw-Huckaby at 11.83 seconds to make it a nine-runner final on Sunday in the women’s 100-meter. Junior Thennelle Williams just missed the cut, finishing 10th on an 11.85. On the men’s side, Smithville, Texas junior Brice Chabot added another event to his Sunday slate, blowing out the second heat with a 10.39 for the automatic advance and the third-best time. Next in line to move on, Little Elm, Texas senior Dennis Phillips came in at 10.43 on the fourth-fastest prelim time.
In the men’s 800-meter, sophomore Victor Charo just missed the edge for Sunday, coming in ninth on a time of 1:52.80.
The discus throwers are first and last on the Sunday field event schedule, while the NCAA’s second-ranked UTSA triple jump squad will pursue their share of the scoring pot in the late afternoon. The Roadrunner 4x100-meter relays open running events, followed by Kobayashi in the 100m hurdles final, Roth in the men’s 400m final, Roy in the women’s 100m, Chabot and Phillips in the men’s 100m. Williams takes on the women’s 200m final ahead of the men’s trio of Roth, Chabot and Phillips. The meet concludes with the 4x400-meter relays, beginning at 7:45 p.m.
Heading into the final day of conference championship action, the UTSA men have accumulated 29 points and are in fourth, while the women have 13 points and are in 10th.
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