SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA track & field teams will travel to Birmingham, Ala., for the Conference USA Indoor Championships, which will be held on Saturday-Sunday Feb. 20-21, at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
The Roadrunners will compete against league foes Charlotte, FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss and WKU on both the men's and women's side, with Florida Atlantic, Marshall and UAB only having a women's team. UTEP is not competing during the 2021 indoor season.
UTSA is under the leadership of Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox, a veteran of the UTSA track & field staff since 2000 who is in his 13th year overseeing both the men's and women's programs.
Saturday's action will get underway at 9 a.m. 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 are slated to begin at 1 p.m. with the men's pole vault and running events are slated for a 3 p.m. start with the men's mile run.
On Sunday, the second day of the heptathlon will begin at 8:30 a.m., with field and track events scheduled for 10 a.m. and noon starts, respectively.
Men's Preview
UTSA finished second at last year's C-USA Indoor behind a trio of gold-medal performances in Birmingham. It marked the Roadrunners' sixth straight top-three showing at the league's indoor meet.
The Roadrunners will travel several of the league's top performers, including a pair of defending champions, and 15 total marks that rank in the top eight in C-USA.
Bashiru Abdullahi will look to defend his league crown in the 60-meter hurdles. The four-time C-USA Indoor Track Athlete of the Week owns the top time on the circuit, his school-record-tying 7.80 clocking posted on Feb. 6 at the Charlie Thomas Invitational. The Benin City, Nigeria, native raced to top honors at last year's meet with a time of 7.80 to become the program's 10th league champion in the event.
Grant Szalek boasts the conference's top mark in the triple jump and the third-best clearance in the high jump. The reigning C-USA Indoor high jump silver medalist skied over the bar at a height of 2.11 meters (6-11) to win the Aggie Invitational on Jan. 23. A native of Perth, Australia, he skipped to a career-best mark of 15.11m (49-7) for second place in the triple jump at the H-Town SpeedCity Series I, as he looks to improve upon last year's fifth-place effort at the league meet.
The Roadrunners have registered four of the top six marks in the long jump, led by Christie Le Roux's season-best leap of 7.15m (23-5.5) at the H-Town SpeedCity Series II to place him third among C-USA competitors. Sam Healy ranks fourth with a measurement of 7.03m (23-0.75), while Jack Turner — the defending C-USA heptathlon champion — and Joel McFarlane stand fifth (7.00m/22-11.75) and sixth (6.95m/22-9.75), respectively.
UTSA also will bring a deep roster to the shot put field with three of the top six measurements in the conference. Jorge Ayala, who was sixth at last year's meet, paces the league with a career-best 16.54m (54-3.25) mark posted at the Aggie Invitational. Paul Bouey, the 2020 C-USA Indoor bronze medalist in the shot put, ranks fourth with a 15.98m (52-1.75) measurement, while Angel Robles stands sixth (15.10m/49-6.5).
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.
As a member of Conference USA, the Roadrunners placed seventh in 2014 before finishing second in both 2015 and 2016 and third in 2017. UTSA earned a runner-up finish in 2018, placed third in 2019 and then finished second last year for its sixth consecutive top-three finish at a league indoor meet.
UTSA has a total of eight runner-up conference finishes and since 2005 has finished third or better at all but one league indoor meet.
The Roadrunners have combined to win 84 individual and relay league titles indoors, including Abdullahi (60m hurdles), Turner (heptathlon) and Andre Douglas (triple jump) at the 2020 C-USA Indoor. 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 two 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
At the 2020 C-USA Indoor, UTSA finished fourth, the program's top showing since 2017, on the strength of Maia Campbell's gold-medal performance in the shot put and five additional podium finishes.
The Roadrunners will tote 15 of the league's top-eight performances into this weekend's meet, headlined by a pair of league leaders in the horizontal jumps.
Ingeborg Gruenwald has emerged as one of the league's top long jumpers in her short UTSA career. The sophomore from Austria paces the conference with a season-best leap of 6.13m (20-1.5) at the Charlie Thomas Invitational on Feb. 6, while her top triple jump of 11.44m (37-6.5) stands sixth. She earned C-USA Indoor Field Athlete of the Week accolades on Jan. 20 after collecting the gold medal in the long jump and securing silver in the triple jump at the H-Town SpeedCity Series I.
Danielle Spence owns the top triple jump mark on the circuit with her season-best 12.33m (40-5.5) registered at the H-Town SpeedCity Series II on Jan. 29. A five-time C-USA medalist, the senior All-American and school record-holder won the event two years ago, finished third last year and placed second in 2018.
Johanna Soover adds to UTSA's depth in the triple jump with the league's fourth-best mark of 11.81m (38-9) posted at the Charlie Thomas Invitational, while Oreoluwa Adamson enters the weekend fifth in the long jump with a 5.77m (18-11.25) measurement from the same meet.
Lacee Barnes will look to challenge for the league's shot put crown after finishing fifth last year. The senior stands second with a career-best and Cayman Islands-record mark of 14.70m (48-2.75) posted at the H-Town SpeedCity Series II on Jan. 28.
On the track, Alanah Yukich ranks third in both the 400m with a career-best time of 55.62 and in the 60m hurdles with a PR of 8.70. The sophomore from Australia also is eighth in the 200m (24.99) and is part of the third-ranked 4x400m relay team (3:51.72).
The Roadrunners have won three team titles (1992-94) and finished second five times during their history as a member of a conference, which dates back to 1992. UTSA has turned in a top-five showing at 21 conference indoor meets including four times as a member of C-USA. The Roadrunners were the runner-up in their first C-USA Indoor in 2014, one year after also finishing second at the 2013 WAC Indoor.
UTSA has captured a combined 65 individual and relay titles at conference indoor meets on the women's side, including Maia Campbell's gold medal in the shot put one year ago. 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.
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