BRIMINGHAM, Ala. — UTSA led through the first 14 scored events, but defending champion Western Kentucky made a late charge and then held off the Roadrunners to successfully defend their Conference USA Indoor Championship on Thursday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Dusan Makevic won his second distance event in as many days when he edged out WKU's Endalow Takele in the 3,000 meters by nearly two seconds. Makevic, who won the 5k on Wednesday night, clocked a 8:16.11 in winning the program's second title in the event and first since the 1997 campaign. UTSA's third gold medal of the two-day meet pushed its all-time individual/relay total to 75 and 51 of those have come under the direction of 14th-year head coach Aaron Fox.
"Today was a much harder day for me than yesterday," Makevic said. "The mile is not my specialty, but I was glad I could help the team score in that event. However, the 3k is my race and I made sure to not let any surprises happen."
"The team competed hard and I was extremely proud of them," Fox said. "Our freshmen really stepped up and performed for us. That is a great sign for the future. Dusan had a great meet and he rebounded nicely in the 3,000 after finishing fifth in the mile."
The Roadrunners, who entered the final day of competition with a 13-point lead over second-place North Texas in the team standings through five scored events, extended the advantage to 28 after scoring a combined 15 points in the shot put, as Kelsey Benoit (55-6 ½/16.93m), Tyler Finke (54-0 ½/16.47m) and Gabe Vargas (53-5/16.28m) finished third through fifth, respectively. WKU's Nick Demaline captured the championship with his put of 60-6 (18.44m).
Middle Tennessee moved into second place after racking up 13 points in the triple jump, but UTSA still maintained a 17.5-point advantage, however, that lead was cut down by two when Middle Tennessee's Atsu Nyamadi (5,465 points) outlasted Adrian Riley (5,109) for the heptathlon crown.
"It felt really good to compete in my second indoor championship where I was able to capture the silver medal in the heptathlon," Riley said. "I am looking forward to having a great outdoor season."
The Blue Raiders drew even closer following the mile, which was the first running final of the afternoon.
Makevic raced to fifth place in 4:10.38, but a combined 17 by a trio of Middle Tennessee runners offset his four points and the Roadrunners still held onto a slim 76-73.5 edge.
UTSA pushed the advantage out to 10.5 points following fourth- and sixth-place efforts from Jurmarcus Shelvin (PR 47.60) and Vasha Sheriff (48.52) in the 400m and the lead quickly was stretched out to 19 when Patrick Prince (PR 7.91) and Justin Gerbrecht (8.04) finished third and fifth, respectively, in the 60m hurdles.
However, Western Kentucky now was the team chasing the Roadrunners.
The Hilltoppers drew to within seven points at 97-90 after the 60m when their three finalists placed third through fifth with Mikael Dawkins (6.94) crossing the line in sixth for the Roadrunners.
The 800m was next and Middle Tennessee had the top three finishers, which moved them back into second place, but Luca Chatham (1:54.19) placed fourth and UTSA held onto a narrow 4.5-point edge, 102-97.5.
Western Kentucky surged into the lead on the strength of 29 points in the following event, the 200m, as Hilltoppers athletes finished in the top four spots, while Shelvin placed seventh (21.63). That gave WKU an insurmountable 119-104 lead with two disciplines remaining.
The advantage stood at 13 heading into the meet's final event, the 1,600m relay, where the Roadrunners passed the baton in 3:14.18, which was good for third place. Western Kentucky finished second in 3:13.57, one hundredth of a second behind Southern Miss, and won the team title by a final score of 135-120.
UTSA now will await word on any qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which are scheduled for March 11-12 back in Birmingham, Ala.
If no invitations come, the Roadrunners will take the next three weekends off before beginning their outdoor campaign from March 18-19 when they host the UTSA Invitational.