BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — UTSA received gold medal performances from Barrett Brock and Dusan Makevic on Wednesday and the Roadrunners lead after six scored events at this week's Conference USA Indoor Championships, which are being contested at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Brock won the pole vault after tying his season-best clearance of 16-0 ¾ (4.90m) and that was five and three-quarter inches better than his nearest competitor. His first-ever gold medal in his specialty event marked the Roadrunners' second all-time victory at a league championship meet and first since 2011. Chad Gates (15-1/4.60m) and Reid Perry (14-1 ¼/4.30m) also accounted for a combined five points with their fifth- and eighth-place performances, respectively, and that gave the Roadrunners a combined 15 in the second scored field event of the meet.
"It felt really great to go out and represent my school and come away with the win," Brock said. "Hopefully, we can keep up the momentum and bring home the championship trophy tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Makevic cruised to victory in the 5,000 meters after crossing the finish line in 14:16.67, which was more than six seconds faster than his nearest competitor. His first-ever collegiate victory in the event was UTSA's fourth all-time gold medal at a conference meet and first since 1999.
"The 5k went completely like I planned," Makevic said. "I took the lead after we crossed 3k mark and was able to score 10 points for us. I tried to save as much energy as possible in the race since I still have the mile and 3k to run. I am hoping for a good day for all my teammates tomorrow."
The two victories pushed the program's all-time individual/relay total to 74 and 50 of those have come under the direction of 14th-year head coach Aaron Fox.
Ty Anderson finished second in the high jump with a career-best clearance of 7-1 ½ (2.17m). That bettered his previous personal record by an inch and a quarter and it moved him up to second place on the program's all-time performers chart and 16th in the nation this season. His mark matched North Texas' Eddie Wilcox, but Wilcox was awarded the victory due to one fewer miss in the competition.
UTSA received a combined 12 points in the weight throw when Victor Perez and Levi Jordan finished second and fifth, respectively. Perez launched the 35-pound implement 60-1 ¼ (18.32m), while Jordan registered a career-long measurement of 58-4 ½ (17.79m), which now stands as the fourth-best performance in school annals. Charlotte's Stevan Veselinovic won the event with his toss of 62-8 (19.10m).
"I came here as a walk-on and I'm proud to say that through hard work and determination I have been able to become a competitor and contributor for my team," Perez said. "I have much to work on and plan on being a force come outdoor season."
The distance medley relay team of Luca Chatham, Kaylan Harris, Kyren Hollis and Montgomery Bertschy picked up the Roadrunners' final four points of the day after placing fifth in 10:14.82.
UTSA, which is in search of the ninth indoor conference crown in program history, scored 49 points on the opening day and it has a 13-point advantage over second place North Texas, while Middle Tennessee is third with 33.5.
"We had a great start to the Conference USA Championships," Fox said. "We were able to win two individual titles and qualified who we expected to into the finals. We are prepared to fight for the championship tomorrow."
Adrian Riley stands second after the opening four events of the heptathlon. The league leader coming into the meet has scored 2,941 points on the strength of a victory in the 60m (7.02) and second-place effort in the long jump (22-3 ¾/6.80m). The final three disciplines of the multi-event competition will be contested on Thursday morning.
The Roadrunners advanced a total of seven entries into the running finals, including Jurmarcus Shelvin, who moved on in both the 200m and 400m.
The final day of action is scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m.