SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will travel to Birmingham, Ala., this weekend for the Air Force Reserve Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the CrossPlex.
The two-day meet will get underway at 9 a.m. Saturday with the first event in the men's heptathlon, followed shortly by the start of the women's pentathlon at 9:15 a.m. Field events will commence at 2 p.m., while running events are slated to begin two hours later.
Sunday's action will start at 9 a.m. with the second day of the heptathlon, followed by field events at 11 a.m. and running finals at 1 p.m. The awards presentation is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
Under the direction of Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox, the Roadrunners will compete against Charlotte, FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss, UTEP and WKU on both the men's and women's sides. Florida Atlantic, Marshall and UAB have a women's team only.
Men's Preview
The UTSA men enter the C-USA Indoor Championships with 17 marks that rank in the top five in the league, including the highest point total (5,949) in the heptathlon by Gary Haasbroek and the fastest time in the 5,000m (15:35.64) by Josh Rodriguez.
Haasbroek set four heptathlon records with his winning performance at the Houston Invitational on Jan. 26. The freshman from Melbourne, Australia, shattered the previous UTSA record of 5,519 set by Brandon Buteaux in 2005 and toppled the previous Australian national mark of 4,875 established by Cameron Crowley in 2015. He also took down the meet record of 5,483 set by former Roadrunner Justin Youngblood in 2004 and surpassed three-time NCAA Champion Donovan Kilmartin's Yeoman Fieldhouse standard of 5,752 from 2005. At the same meet, Haasbroek also leaped to a school record mark of 7.65 meters (25-1 ¼) in the long jump, a measurement that ranks third in the league.
Rodriguez, a junior from Boerne, recorded his PR time in the 5,000m at the Charlie Thomas Invitational on Feb. 1 in College Station.
Vincent Perez comes into the meet with the second-best weight throw measurement in the field. The senior from San Antonio Marshall High School won the event at the Charlie Thomas Invitational on Feb. 2 with a career-best mark of 19.49m (63-11 ½), which moved him into second place on UTSA's all-time performers list behind his older brother, Victor.
Patrick Prince is the defending champion in the 60-meter hurdles and the senior from Conroe enters the weekend with the second-fastest time, a 7.84 clocked in winning the FasTrak Invitational on Jan. 19.
Luca Chatham owns the second-fastest conference time in the 800m, a 1:51.24 posted at the Charlie Thomas Invitational, while the senior from Dallas ranks fourth in the mile with a 4:10.82 clocking. Those times also rank Chatham second and third, respectively, in school history.
Andre Douglas stands second in C-USA in the triple jump, as the sophomore from Jamaica skipped to a personal-best mark of 15.67m (51-5) to win the event at the Charlie Thomas Invitational, a jump that ranks him No. 2 on UTSA's all-time list.
The Roadrunners are projected to score big points in the heptathlon, as Jake McDaniel and Justin Wright rank second (4,904) and fifth (4,337), respectively, behind Haasbroek's top point total.
Last year, the Roadrunners finished second in the team race behind a pair of gold medals from Prince in the 60m hurdles and Desmond Jefferson in the 400m. UTSA also received runner-up performances from Douglas in the triple jump, Vasha Sheriff in the 400m, Adrian Riley in the heptathlon, Kelsey Benoit in the shot put and the men's 4x400m relay squad of Andrew Pirog, Sheriff, Byron Taylor and Jefferson.
The men won the 2013 team title in their first try as a member of Conference USA. The Roadrunners then placed seventh in 2014, second in both 2015 and 2016 and third in 2017 before the runner-up showing last year.
UTSA won eight straight conference indoor crowns from 2006 to 2013, the first seven as a member of the Southland Conference before grabbing gold in its only year in the Western Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners also own seven runner-up finishes and have finished third or better at all but one conference indoor meet since 2005.
The Roadrunners have combined to win 79 individual and relay league titles indoors. UTSA also can claim five high-point scorer, four athlete of the year, three outstanding track performer, two outstanding field performer, a pair of freshman of the year, one field athlete of the year and one freshman of the meet accolades in its history. Additionally, Fox has been named conference coach of the year eight times during his tenure.
Women's Preview
The UTSA women will head to Birmingham with 10 marks that rank in the top eight in C-USA, including Gabriyella Torres' league-best point total of 3,661 points in the heptathlon. The senior from Port Isabel nearly matched her personal best of 3,692 points in placing fourth at the Houston Invitational on Jan. 25.
Danielle Spence boasts a pair of top-eight marks in the horizontal jumps. The sophomore from Jamaica broke a 27-year-old school record in the triple jump with a mark of 13.09m (42-11 ½) in winning the Houston Invitational. She also posted a PR of 5.86m (19-2 ¾) in the long jump at the same meet and ranks seventh in the conference in that event.
The distance medley relay team of Colleen Gilbert, Creshaun Cresser, Stephanie Sauceda and Amber Boyd enters the C-USA Indoor with the second-fastest time in the field, a 12:33.56 clocking posted at the season-opening Ted Nelson Invitational.
In the throws, Maia Campbell owns a pair of measurements that rank sixth in the league. The Converse Judson High School product unleashed a career-best mark of 18.13m (59-5 ¾) in the weight throw at the Charlie Thomas Invitational. The junior also posted a season best 14.48m (47-6 ¼) in the shot put at the Houston Invitational and is the school's No. 3 all-time performer in both events.
Caroline Bellows ranks sixth in the conference in the pole vault. The senior cleared a personal-best height of 3.72m (12-2 ½) at the Charlie Thomas Invitational and now ranks third on UTSA's all-time performers list.
Last year, the women placed sixth in the team standings, highlighted by a pair of podium finishes in the triple jump from runner-up Spence and bronze-medalist Ariel Watson. Victoria Rausch took third in the 60m hurdles and the 4x400m relay passed the baton to bronze.
The women placed second in their first two years in C-USA in 2013 and 2014, then claimed eighth in 2015, ninth in 2016 and fourth in 2017 before finishing sixth a year ago.
The Roadrunners have won three team titles (1992-94) and finished second five times during their history. UTSA has turned in a top-five showing at 20 conference indoor meets including three times as a member of C-USA.
UTSA has captured a combined 62 individual and relay titles at conference indoor meets on the women's side. The Roadrunners have earned six outstanding track performer, five athlete of the year and five high-point scorer certificates to go along with one outstanding field performer accolade and a newcomer of the year honor.
