INDIANAPOLIS — A total of 12 members of the UTSA track & field teams have qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round, which will be held on Wednesday-Saturday, May 26-29, in College Station, Texas.
The UTSA women will send seven athletes to Aggieland for the four-day meet, which is the start of NCAA postseason competition.
The duo of Faith Roberson and Alanah Yukich will enter the 400-meter hurdles with the fourth- and fifth-fastest times in the field of 48. Roberson bettered her own school record with a 56.89 clocking to win the Conference USA Outdoor title and break the meet record in the process. Yukich was a close second with a personal-best time of 57.00 last week.
A pair of Roadrunners will compete in the long jump, as Ingeborg Gruenwald and Oreoluwa Adamson rank 20th and 45th in the West Preliminary field. Gruenwald collected a silver medal with a collegiate-best leap of 6.36m (20-10.5) at last week's C-USA Outdoor, while Adamson was third with a mark of 6.17m (20-3).
Danielle Spence will start her pursuit of a second career All-America certificate in the triple jump. The Jamaica native owns a season-best 12.62m (41-5) measurement and sits atop the school's career chart with a school-record 13.42m (44-0.5) set at the 2019 conference meet.
Maia Campbell is armed with the 10th-best shot put mark in the field after shattering her own school record with a heave of 17.33m (56-10.25) in winning the C-USA title last week.
Lacee Barnes will make her NCAA postseason debut next week in the discus, as the Cayman Islands native ranks in the top 40 with her UTSA-record throw of 51.52m (169-0).
The men will have five athletes competing next week at E.B. Cushing Stadium on the Texas A&M campus.
Bashiru Abdullahi will represent UTSA in the 110m hurdles. The Benin City, Nigeria, native owns a wind-legal season-best time of 13.84 and his 13.61 clocking — the best under any conditions in school history — would put him in a tie for 11th in the field.
Andrew Pirog is set to make his fourth career NCAA West Preliminary appearance in the 400m hurdles. The San Antonio Reagan High School product clocked a personal-best time of 51.08 to secure the silver medal at last week's C-USA Outdoor, putting him 24th in next week's field.
Sam Healy and Christie Le Roux both qualified in the long jump. Healy measured 7.59m (24-11) to take runner-up honors at the conference meet, while Le Roux owns a wind-legal season-best mark of 7.48m (24-6.25) from the Texas A&m Team Invitational in April.
Grant Szalek will make his NCAA postseason debut in the triple jump, as the Perth, Australia native ranks 30th with his wind-legal mark of 15.63m (51-3.5) posted in taking second place at the C-USA Outdoor. His wind-aided season-best of 15.84m (51-11.75) would stand in the top 25 in the field.
Additionally, the decathlon and heptathlon will only be contested at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which are scheduled for June 9-10 in Eugene, Ore. The top 24 declared athletes in each of those events will be accepted into the national championship meet.
Jack Turner has put himself in solid position to earn a qualifying spot in the decathlon, as his school-record 7,569-point total set in winning the C-USA Outdoor crown last week currently stands 13th in the country. Amaya Scott currently ranks 28th in the heptathlon with her conference gold-medal total of 5,516 points.
UTSA's 2021 NCAA West Preliminary Round Qualifiers
Women
Oreoluwa Adamson, Long Jump (6.17m/20-3)
Lacee Barnes, Discus (51.52m/169-0)
Maia Campbell, Shot Put (17.33m/56-10.25)
Ingeborg Gruenwald, Long Jump (6.36m/20-10.5)
Faith Roberson, 400-Meter Hurdles (56.89)
Danielle Spence, Triple Jump (12.62m/41-5)
Alanah Yukich, 400-Meter Hurdles (57.00)
Men
Bashiru Abdullahi, 110-Meter Hurdles (13.84)
Sam Healy, Long Jump (7.59m/24-11)
Christie Le Roux, Long Jump (7.48m/24-6.5)
Andrew Pirog, 400-Meter Hurdles (51.08)
Grant Szalek, Triple Jump (15.63m/51-3.5)
-UTSA-
