BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Coming just 3.5 points shy of the program’s first American Athletic Conference Championship, the UTSA women’s track and field team put together some major performances on Saturday in the final day of competition at the AAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Roadrunner women accumulated 92.5 points and only dropped behind a 96-point Tulane squad. The men’s team gathered 50 points and finished seventh in the field. The Roadrunners added three additional individual conference titles to bring the weekend total to five, increasing the medal count by seven to 12 overall. In addition, UTSA notched their third and fourth school records of the meet held at the Birmingham Crossplex.
After leading off the scoring on Friday, Jakobsli, Norway freshman Mia Lien followed suit for Saturday’s competition, earning the silver medal in the individual high jump with a 1.79m (5-10.5) height, while Tallinn, Estonia sophomore Edlin Laur added to the scoring totals with a fifth-place 1.70m (5-7).
Next on the medal stand, redshirt senior transfer Shadae Findley (Evergreen, Jamaica) produced a 53.96 clocking in the women’s 400m final to finish second in the field. Meanwhile on the men’s side, senior Mike Roth (St. Thomas, Ontario) also logged the silver with a season-best 46.48-second performance.
Coming down the stretch in the afternoon, UTSA started dealing out heavy medal-worthy performances. Senior Fresno State transfer Rachela Pace (Dingli, Malta) leapt right to the top of the triple jump leaderboard, but secured the conference title on her third attempt, hitting a measurement of 12.93m (42-5.25). Only beaten out by Pace, London, England senior Oreolewa Adamson registered a silver-medal measurement of 12.63m (41-5.25) in her first triple jump competition since 2023. Midyear newcomer Mifri Veso (freshman/Pordenone, Italy) registered a ninth-place 12.21m (40-0.75) in her third career competition.
Adding 0.29 meters to her career long, sophomore Arkansas State transfer Nyaluet Diew (South Sioux City, Neb.) heaved a dominant 16.16m (53-0.25) performance for a full 0.6m conference victory in the women’s shot put, while also securing a new UTSA school record. Diew’s AAC mark on Saturday surpassed Maia Campbell’s 16.12m Conference USA Championships mark from 2020.
Marking the final women’s scoring performance of the meet, the 4x400m relay squad of Selma Ims, Findley, Fatoumata Kabo and Ida Breigan combined for a silver-medal 3:36.32 clocking, moving 2.86 seconds past the fresh record from last month in College Station – that mark set by Ims, Findley, Breigan and Ibiso David-West.
Closing out the field events for the meet, Perth, Australia senior Dylan James delivered in his final meet with a 15.36m (50-4.75) third pass in the men’s triple jump, earning gold for his third event win of the season and second career conference championship in the event.
Also generating points for the Roadrunners on Saturday, Abilene, Texas junior Victor Charo earned seventh in the men's 800m final on a time of 1:51.96. The final event of the meet with a fourth-place finish, the men’s 4x400m quartet of AJ Breault, Martín Kouyoumdjian, Hugo Menin and Roth ran a season-best 3:11.85 for the fifth-best UTSA performance in school history. Finishing out his first career conference heptathlon, Finn O'Neill (freshman/Parish of Faughanvale, Northern Ireland) moved up to ninth with 4,556 points, boosted by a second-place 1,000m section finish in 2:48.98.
Up Next
With the AAC Championships in the books, the top 16 national individuals and top 12 relay teams will qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, set for March 14-15 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia. The next move for the Roadrunners not at nationals is turning attention to the outdoor season and UTSA’s lone home meet – the UTSA Invitational, held March 21-22 at the Park West Athletics Complex.
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