DENTON, Texas – The Roadrunner women raced into direct contention with the close of the second day of UTSA track & field competition at the American Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday. Scoring on throws, multi-events and a big haul from the long jump, the Roadrunners shot to just two points from the top of the board heading into the final day at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium.
The biggest UTSA women’s victory of Friday’s action belonged to the Roadrunners’ long jump squad. Fredrikstad, Norway junior Ida Breigan repeated as conference champion after securing the lead on her first jump in the third flight. She locked away the victory on her sixth and final attempt with a 6.42m (21-0.75) measurement for the four-time all-time All-American. Making her first American Outdoor appearance, Sioux Falls, South Dakota transfer sophomore Nyariek Kur vaulted into the silver medal with her 6.18m (20-3.50) on her final pass. The Roadrunners added two more scorers in the event, as sophomore Mia Lien went 6.03m (19-9.50) to secure fourth and junior Edlin Laur went 5.94m (19-6) for eighth while still fresh off completing the heptathlon.
In the earliest action of the day, South Sioux City, Nebraska junior Nyaluet Diew notched a season-best 16.15m (53-0) on her last pass at the shot put to grab the silver medal. Transfer senior Daisy Monie followed in fourth with a 15.44m (50-8) toss on her sixth attempt.
Collecting 5,292 points, Laur also earned fifth place in the heptathlon, bumping up her No. 5 mark in the all-time UTSA performances after earning second in the high jump section (1.58m/5-2.25), second in the long jump (5.95m/19-6.25) and fourth in the javelin (38.99m/127-11). Freshman Sunniva Indahl also scored for UTSA with an eighth-place 4,909 points, with her best showing at third in the 100-meter hurdles (14.16).
Though the women’s team were big scorers on Friday, the men added a solid double-scoring performance in the decathlon, as Parish of Faughanvale, Northern Ireland sophomore Finn O’Neill strung together 7,291 points for the silver medal. O'Neill racked up some big scores by winning the 1,500-meter (4:35.90) and javelin (51.84m/170-1), in addition to second-place finishes in the 110-meter hurdles (15.02) and shot put (13.41m/44-0), as well as third in the 400m (50.88), discus (39.45m/129-5) and pole vault (4.30m/14-1.25). Trading positions with O’Neill throughout the event, Breda, Netherlands freshman Ryan Heeren secured 7,224 points for the bronze, winning the 400-meter (50.61), with a second-place long jump (7.24m/23-9), and third-place finishes in the 100-meter (10.77), high jump (1.90m/6-2.75), 110-meter hurdles (15,31), javelin (51.32m/168-4) and 1,500m (4:41.79).
Redshirt junior Jemuel Miller also delivered a fourth-place long jump performance with a 7.59m (24-11) measurement. Freshman Cyrill Kernbach was 11th with a jump of 7.14m (23-5.25).
Setting the stage for Saturday, sophomore Selma Ims finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles preliminary on a 13.30 clocking, while senior Shadae Findley qualified for the 400-meter final with an eighth-place 54.86. Junior Martín Kouyoumdjian will join the pair for Saturday’s competition after going fifth in the men’s 400m preliminary on a 46.66 qualifying time.
Also on Friday, sophomore Ryan Stillman finished 12th in the men’s shot put at 14.25m (46-9), senior Victor Charo was 11th in the 800-meter at 1:52.35, ahead of sophomore Gabe Tubbs in 15th at 1:52.79.
For the consequential final day of competition, action begins on Saturday, May 16 at 1:30 p.m. with the discus, ahead of triple jump and high jump. UTSA’s track events start with the finals for the 100m hurdles (5:10 p.m.), 400m (5:30 p.m.) and 400m hurdles (6:15 p.m.) and then concluding the meet in traditional fashion on the 4x400-meter relays (7:35 p.m.).
Up next: Qualified performers will extend their postseason into regional competition at the NCAA West First Round on May 27-30, at Arkansas’ John McDonnell Field, competing for the opportunity to reach the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Oregon’s historic Hayward Field, June 10-13.
- UTSA -