Freshman Keith Benford won UTSA's third consecutive Southland Conference high jump title and the program's fourth overall on Friday.
NORMAN, Okla. — The UTSA men's track & field team received winning performances from freshman Keith Benford in the high jump and its distance medley relay team on Friday at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships and the four-time defending champion Roadrunners stand in first place in the team standings following the first six scored events.
The Birds, who netted 47.5 points on the day, lead second-place UT Arlington (37) by 10.5 points and are 19.5 in front of Southeastern Louisiana, which sits in third (28).
Benford won the program's third consecutive league title with his leap of 6-10 ¾ (2.10m) to lead a trio of UTSA athletes who scored a combined 20 points in the event. Junior transfer Devon Bond cleared 6-8 ¾ (2.05m) in his first high jump competition of the season and defending champion Johnathan Whittaker, a senior, was fifth at the same height. The Roadrunners now own four crowns in their 19-year history in the league.
Meanwhile, the quartet of juniors Brandon Chiuminetta and Canel Cole, senior Bryan Ugochukwu and sophomore Albert Cardenas circled the Mosier Indoor Facility track in 10:10.08 (No. 3 in UTSA history) for the program's first title in the distance medley relay in nine years and fifth overall in school annals. The victory ended Lamar's three-year run in the event.
"We did exactly what we needed to do today," head coach Aaron Fox said. "The DMR and Keith both were incredible and they helped get us the points we needed. We had a lot of very good things happen and I'm looking forward to seeing if the guys can bring home another championship tomorrow."
Led by freshman Tyler Williamson's third-place performance in the long jump, UTSA was able to secure a combined nine points in the event. Williamson just missed his personal record with his leap of 23-8 ¾ (7.23m), while sophomore Geulien Brisco (pr 23-3 ½/7.10m) and freshman Peyton Vickers (23-0/7.01m) placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
The Roadrunners also received a pair of sixth-place efforts from junior Cole Reveal (5,000 meters) and freshman Phil Steinert (weight throw).
Reveal clocked a 15:04.08 and shaved nearly a half minute off his previous career-best set earlier this year at season-opening Leonard Hilton Memorial (15:33.44) and it moved him up a spot from fourth to third on the school's all-time performers chart.
Steinert, meanwhile, also shattered his previous pr (52-10 ¾/16.12m) with his toss of 55-11 (17.04m) and he now sits second in school history behind only Luke Johnson (56-3 ¾/17.16m).
Junior Lucas Neeper got the Birds on the board early when he finished in a fifth-place tie in the pole vault with a personal-best clearance of 15-3 (4.65m) and that was good for two-and-a-half points.
In the running event preliminary heats, reigning Southland Indoor Athlete of the Year Teddy Williams successfully began defense of both his short sprint titles.
The All-American peeled off the fastest 60m time (6.72) and second-best 200m clocking (21.97) of the evening. He will be joined by junior Edmund Yeboah (6.80/No. 3 UTSA history) and freshman Adam Hebert (pr 6.90) in Saturday's 60m two-section final and junior John Matthews (pr 22.05) and Hebert (22.14) in the deuce, which also will be contested in a pair sections later in the afternoon. He is attempting the become the first athlete in conference history to sweep both crowns in consecutive years.
UTSA also saw Chiuminetta, Cole and Ugochukwu advance to the 800m final, as well as Matthews (60m hurdles) and Cardenas (mile). Matthews skimmed the barriers in 8.14, which not only was the second-fastest qualifying time, but it also was the fifth-best performance in school annals.
Saturday’s action kicks off at 8:30 a.m. with the final three events of the heptathlon and that will be followed by the shot put and triple jump at 1 p.m. Track event finals start up a half hour later and will last until a champion is crowned at 5 p.m.
The Roadrunners will send out a league-high 14 athletes into the running finals in addition to their 1,600m relay team and field event entries.