SAN ANTONIO – It was a solid second day of action for the UTSA men’s and women’s track and field teams, on Saturday at Park West, completing the second and final day of competition at the UTSA Invitational. UTSA proved strong down the stretch in the running events, with highlights leaning toward the hurdles events, as UTSA won three hurdles races and collected six medals at the two distances. In total, the Roadrunners won four events and earned 10 medals on Saturday – bringing the two-day total to 17 medals with five event winners.
Netting UTSA’s first gold medal of the day, freshman Charlie Staddon went 13.83 in the men’s 110-meter hurdles to win the race, notching the fifth-best time in school history in the outdoor debut for the rookie from Bath, England. Locking up the bronze was Fort Stockton, Texas rookie Zane Hodges with a debut at 14.11. The men’s race was just behind the women’s 100-meter hurdles, which saw Sandnes, Norway freshman Selma Ims capture the first of two hurdles medals via a second-place 13.54 clocking – also registering the fifth-best time in school history.
Marking his first 400-meter victory of the season, St. Thomas, Ontario senior Mike Roth rocketed up the home stetch to a 47.30-second win, while Martin Kouyoumdjian came in fifth at 48.26 and Matthew Mills was seventh at 48.95. In the women’s 400m, Fatoumata Kabo earned fourth place on a 55.45, while Nayanna Dubarry-Gay was seventh in 56.60.
Making his outdoor debut, football two-sport rookie Will Henderson III collected gold in the 100m, finishing just outside the all-time marks with a 10.37-second clocking. In the women's 100m, Leah Smith arrived at 11.86 for seventh place.
Into the back third of the afternoon, the UTSA hurdles dominance shined through, as Ims took the victory in the 400-meter hurdles, registering the program’s third-best historical time on a 57.79 mark, pushing ahead of Goliad, Texas freshman Kyla Hill with the silver in a 1:03.06 debut. On the men’s side, Tarleton State senior transfer Hugo Menin completed the long hurdles sweep with the 400m hurdles win on a 51.16 clocking. Meanwhile, Staddon came in seventh in the event on a 57.60.
Assuming the No. 4 position in the 200m records, sophomore Ida Breigan worked her sprint technique in this meet, going home with the bronze on a career-best 23.39. Meanwhile, the new No. 5 UTSA position moved to Kiah Dubarry-Gay, who was fourth while matching her career best at 23.42 seconds.
With some familiar names in the quartet, UTSA got the medal march started for the day with the women’s 4x100-meter relay. The squad of Ibiso David-West, K. Dubarry-Gay, Ims and Hill finished third overall and second among collegiate squads with a combined 45.77 in the opening running event of the day.
Leading off the top-10 finishes for the Roadrunners, Edlin Laur jumped 1.65m for sixth place and so did Madelen Sveinungsen for eighth in the high jump at the day’s start. In the men’s discus Waylon McKenzie finished eighth with a 47.74m toss. In the men's 800-meter, Victor Charo crossed in fourth place at 1:52.38, while Cortlin Salge was eighth at 1:55.08 and Gabe Tubbs was ninth at 1:56.98. In the final distance event of the day, AJ Tyler came in ninth with a 4:06.70 clocking in the men’s 1,500m.
As the Roadrunners’ lone home meet, UTSA took the opportunity to recognize 18 seniors on the track with their guests at noon. Included in that group were: Oreoluwa Adamson, Dahlia Barnes, Gabriel Binion, Paul Bouey, Ibiso David-West, Kiah Dubarry-Gay, Nayanna Dubarry-Gay, Dylan James, Christiaan Le Roux, Hugo Menin, Matthew Mills, Rachela Pace, Mike Roth, Leah Smith, Garrett Stokes, AJ Tyler, Thennelle Williams and Brooke Veltman. In addition, the Roadrunners recognized four additional seniors with completed eligibility that were not present: Michael Campbell, Shadae Findley, Marilis Remmel and Noah Rhodes.
Up next, select Roadrunners will travel to Austin and Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium for the 97th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, Thursday-Saturday, March 27-29. Meanwhile, another group of Roadrunners will head up to San Marcos for the Bobcat Invitational, Thursday-Saturday, March 27-29, at the Texas State Track & Field Complex.
- UTSA -