CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Another big burst for the UTSA women’s track and field squad secured a third-place finish on Saturday’s final day of competition at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships. The Roadrunner women collected an additional 60 points to rack up a final score of 99 points. The men’s squad scored 31 and finished in ninth. Adding to Ida Breigan’s long jump title and Nyaluet Diew’s shot put crown, Rachela Pace and Edlin Laur added individual conference championships and UTSA boosted the women’s medal count to 10, along with three additional medals from the men’s side this weekend at Irwin Belk Track & Field Center.
Getting the day started on the highest note, Dingli, Malta senior Pace rose high above the triple jump field with a career-best title-winner at 13.41m (44-0) on a 0.6m victory. She also knocked down her own Malta National Record for the second time, improved her UTSA No. 2 all-time measurement and notched a new national No. 10 this season. It was the second Maltese standard of the weekend for Pace, who also garnered the long jump mark at 6.48m (21-3.25). Earning the silver, London, England senior Oreoluwa Adamson set a new outdoor best and tied her overall career mark at 12.80m (42-0) on her third attempt – recording the sixth-best UTSA performance all-time.
Staying steady with field event success for the Roadrunners, Tallinn, Estonia sophomore Laur rose to a season-high 1.81m (5-11.25) height to take gold in the high jump. Matching Laur’s measurement at 1.81m, but missing her first two passes before making height, Jakobsli, Norway freshman Mia Lien captured the silver. Bringing another scorer to the event, Froland, Norway junior Madelen Sveinungsen tied her season best at 1.65m (5-5) for seventh place.
Earning the first men’s medal of the day via a career-best 45.89 clocking in the men’s 400m final, St. Thomas, Ontario senior Mike Roth earned silver with a new fifth-best historic UTSA time. On the women’s side of the event, Carpenedolo, Italy senior Fatoumata Kabo finished fifth in the women’s 400m on a 54.10 clocking.
Hurdles were a big affair for the Roadrunners, as Sandnes, Norway freshman Selma Ims recorded a career-best 57.13 in the 400m hurdles final, notching the third-best performance in UTSA history, the silver medal and the 24th-fastest time in the nation this year. In the men’s 400m hurdles, Cysoing, France senior Hugo Menin also captured the silver with a 49.82 time in the final. Earlier in the evening, Bath, England freshman Charlie Staddon went 14.10 in the 110m hurdles to collect fifth place.
Wrapping up the women’s events with a bang, the quartet of Ims, Kiah Dubarry-Gay (London, England senior), Kabo and Breigan (Fredrikstad, Norway sophomore) added another silver to the team ledger, recording the second-fastest all-time 4x400m relay time at 3:36.27. The men’s 4x400m of Matthew Mills (New Braunfels, Texas senior), Martín Kouyoumdjian (Santiago, Chile sophomore), Menin and Roth produced a sixth-place 3:13.48 to wrap up the meet. Opening running action for the final day of competition, Ims, Nayanna Dubarry-Gay (London, England senior), Kabo and Breigan registered a UTSA season-best 45.20 in the 4x100m relay to finish fifth.
Diew (South Sioux City, Nebraska sophomore) recorded a 10th-place 42.12m (138-2) toss in the women’s discus. On the men’s side, Santiago, Chile senior Paul Bouey threw 44.37m (145-7) for 19th, Corpus Christi, Texas sophomore Aiden Mercado went 43.98m (144-3) for 20th and Helotes, Texas freshman Waylon McKenzie threw 40.24m (132-0) for 21st.
In the lone distance event, Eagle Pass, Texas junior O.J. Ruiz was 29th in the 5,000m run with a time of 15:39.86.
With the conference meet in the books, qualified elite Roadrunners will return to action May 28-30 at the NCAA West First Round on familiar ground at E.B. Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas, for the opportunity to compete in the NCAA DI Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 11-14.
- UTSA -