BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UTSA track & field teams opened competition on Friday at the Birmingham Crossplex during the first day of action at the American Conference Indoor Championships. The Roadrunners earned medals garnered by Elin Laur, Jayden Williams and Brina Likar, while Ida Breigan delivered her third consecutive indoor title.
Field events were the highlight for UTSA on Friday, with the biggest spotlight on Frederikstad, Norway junior Breigan, who already had the win but registered her long jump season high at 6.52m (21-4.75) on her final attempt as the exclamation point on her third consecutive American Indoor championship. Breigan’s longest jump since last year’s title performance, Friday’s mark is the current No. 8 leap in the country. It was far from the only score for the Roadrunners in the event, as Golnik, Slovenia sophomore Brina Likar reached a season-best measurement of 6.08m (19-11.5) on her second attempt to earn the bronze. Sioux Falls, S.D. junior transfer Nyariek Kur also added an eighth-place 5.79m (19-0) performance.
The long jump was a big scorer on the men’s side as well, with Williston, N.D. junior Jayden Williams reaching 7.48m (24-6.50) while logging the bronze medal on his third jump for the closing event finish of the night. Just two inches shy, Bridgetown, Barbados junior Jemuel Miller finished fourth on a measurement of 7.43m (24-4.5).
Opening the day’s events with the pentathlon, the Tallinn, Estonia sophomore, Laur earned the top spot in the high jump section at 1.77m (5-9.75) and was second in the long jump at 5.85m (19-2.5). Her combined 3,830 points captured the silver medal, falling just 31 points shy of the crown and bumping her standing UTSA third-best all-time total 42 points higher. Making her first full pentathlon appearance, Siggerud, Norway freshman Sunniva Indahl earned fourth place with a UTSA fourth-most 3,796 points after earning second in the 800-meter section on a career-first 2:23.08, third in the 60-meter hurdles section at 8.70 and third on a season-best 11.87m (38-11.5) shot put heave.
Wrapping the first four events of the men’s heptathlon, Juuru, Estonia freshman Janre Jõgi is in first place with 3,150 points and Breda, Netherlands freshman Ryan Heeren is in third at 3,030 points – just 17 points shy of Charlotte’s Joshua Horstmann in second. On the first day of competition, Jõgi won the 60m hurdles via a personal-best 7.02, topped the long jump in a meet-record 7.44m (24-5) and was second in the shot put at 13.84m (45-5). Heeren was second in the long jump at 7.07m (23-2.5), third in the high jump at 1.93m (6-4) and was in the top five of each event.
South Sioux City, Neb. junior Nyaluet Diew earned fourth place in the women’s weight throw, tossing 17.52m (57-5.75) on her third attempt. On the men’s side, Helotes, Texas sophomore Waylon McKenzie earned ninth place in the weight throw with a career-best 17.60m (57-9) measurement on his second pass.
Closing out the day, the men’s distance medley relay squad of David Zuniga, Jamarri Bowie, Victo Charo and O.J. Ruiz produced the fourth-best time in UTSA history at 10:01.69, locking up fifth place.
In total, 28 Roadrunners competed on the first day of the championships. The women’s team heads to the final day just one point shy of second place, logging 35 points for a third-place standing. The men’s team has 15 points and is in seventh after the opening day.
The final three events of the heptathlon, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run, open Saturday’s competition at 9:15 a.m. Laur and Mia Lien will take on the women’s high jump at 10:30 a.m., ahead of Ryan Stillman in the men’s shot put (10:45 a.m.), women’s triple jump with Kur (11 a.m.) and men’s triple jump with Miller and Williams III at 1 p.m. Diew will close out UTSA’s field events with the shot put at 1:15 p.m. Saturday’s running events for UTSA begin with Bowie and AJ Breault in the 400-meter at 12:35 p.m. The women’s 3,000-meter races begin at 2:05 p.m. with Jocelyn Karry, Itzel Rojo and Emma Wallace, followed by Ethan Carranza, Ruiz and Zuniga for the men. The meet closes on the 4x400-meter relays starting at 3:15 p.m.
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