BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Led by podium finishes on the final day from Abby Balli, Lacee Barnes and the 4x400-meter relay, the UTSA women finished third at the Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, which wrapped up on Sunday at Birmingham CrossPlex.
The Roadrunners tallied 84 points for their second straight third-place showing at the league's indoor meet, finishing four points ahead of Charlotte and trailing only Southern Miss (101) and Middle Tennessee (91) in the 13-team field. UTSA now owns five top-five conference indoor finishes since joining C-USA and the 84 points mark the most scored since 116 in a runner-up finish at the 2013 Western Athletic Conference Championships.
In the first track event of the afternoon, Balli collected the bronze medal in the mile with a personal-best time of 4:52.84, more than two seconds faster than her previous PB of 4:55.21 posted in the prelims on Saturday. It marked the second straight podium finish at the C-USA Indoor for the Pasadena, Texas, native, and her time places her fifth on the program's top five all-time performers list.
Meanwhile, Barnes scored her first conference medal in the final field event of the day. The senior from the Cayman Islands registered a personal-best mark of 14.86m (48-9) to claim the bronze in the shot put and add six more points to UTSA's team tally. After opening with measurements of 14.57m and 14.48m, she unleashed her PB in the third round and held on for a podium finish.
In the meet finale, the 4x4 quartet of Mackenzie Grimes, Marie Duvigneau, Ibiso David-West and Alanah Yukich and passed the baton to a season-best time of 3:47.05 to finish third and help the Roadrunners hold off Charlotte, which won the race, in the team standings by four points.
Earlier in the day, Thennelle Williams and Vera Chinedu each posted a pair of top-eight finishes in the sprints. Williams, a freshman from Jamaica, just missed the podium in both the 60m and 200m, finishing fourth with times of 7.55 and 24.49, respectively, the latter of which makes her the school's No. 5 all-time performer in the deuce. Chinedu was sixth in the 200m in 24.87 and eighth in the 60m with a 7.60.
Marie Duvigneau became the program's No. 5 all-time performer in the 400m with a fifth-place clocking of 55.06, while Brooke Lomax recorded an indoor personal-best time of 2:12.86 to take seventh in the 800m.
The Roadrunners racked up 12 points in the triple jump om Sunday afternoon. Danielle Spence skipped to a fourth-place measurement of 12.75m (41-10), while Oreoluwa Adamson and Ingeborg Gruenwald placed fifth (12.46m/40-10.5) and sixth (12.41m/40-8.75), respectively.
On Saturday, Gruenwald and Adamson finished 1-2 in the long jump. Gruenwald grabbed her second straight gold medal in the event, improving her own school and Austrian U23 record to 6.42m (21-0.75) in the process, while Adamson secured silver with a leap of 6.02m (19-9), the best jump of her young UTSA indoor career.
Also on the meet's first day, Acacia Astwood earned the bronze medal in the weight throw with a season-best mark of 18.64m (61-2), while Maddie Boswell raced to a school record in the 5,000m with a time of 16:52.58 to finish third.
The Roadrunners will await word of what athletes qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held March 11-12 at Birmingham CrossPlex.
UTSA Results
60 Meters (prelims)
4. Thennelle Williams 7.54Q
5. Vera Chinedu 7.58Q
60 Meters (final)
4. Thennelle Williams 7.55
8. Vera Chinedu 7.60
200 Meters (prelims)
5. Thennelle Williams 24.55q
7. Vera Chinedu 24.71q
25. Geraldy Barron 26.22
200 Meters (final)
4. Thennelle Williams 24.49
6. Vera Chinedu 24.87
400 Meters (prelims)
5. Marie Duvigneau 55.71q
11. Alanah Yukich 57.64
14. Mackenzie Grimes 58.70
22. Ibiso David-West 59.53
- Creshaun Cresser FS
400 Meters (final)
5. Marie Duvigneau 55.06
800 Meters (prelims)
8. Brooke Lomax 2:14.40q
17. Maddy Blair 2:23.36
800 Meters (final)
7. Brooke Lomax 2:12.86
Mile (prelims)
8. Abby Balli 4:55.21q
29. Chante Dixon 5:26.55
Mile (final)
3. Abby Balli 4:52.84
3,000 Meters
15. Maddie Boswell 9:58.33
48. Abby Balli 11:11.15
5,000 Meters
3. Maddie Boswell 16:52.58
4x400-Meter Relay
3. UTSA (Mackenzie Grimes, Marie Duvigneau, Ibiso David-West, Alanah Yukich) 3:47.05
High Jump
10. Sigrid Kleive 1.64m (5-4.5)
16. Maren Wilms 1.60m (5-0.5)
Long Jump
1. Ingeborg Gruenwald 6.42m (21-0.75)
2. Oreoluwa Adamson 6.02m (19-9)
10. Sigrid Kleive 5.74m (18-10)
12. Danielle Spence 5.62m (18-5.25)
18. Maren Wilms 5.43m (17-9.75)
Triple Jump
4. Danielle Spence 12.75m (41-10)
5. Oreoluwa Adamson 12.46m (40-10.5)
6. Ingeborg Gruenwald 12.41m (40-8.75)
Shot Put
2. Lacee Barnes 14.86m (48-9)
16. Zoe Shanklin 12.44m (40-9.75)
Weight Throw
3. Acacia Astwood 18.64m (61-2)
13. Lacee Barnes 16.35m (53-7.75)
- Zoe Shanklin FOUL
Pentathlon
5. Maren Wilms 3,468 — 60-Meter Hurdles (9.48/812); High Jump (1.54m/666); Shot Put (9.08m/469); Long Jump (5.63m/738); 400 Meters (2:23.02/783)
-UTSA-
