SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA track & field teams will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Conference USA Indoor Championships, which will be held on Saturday-Sunday Feb. 18-19, at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
The Roadrunners will compete against league foes Charlotte, FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, UTEP and WKU on both the men's and women's side, with Florida Atlantic and UAB only having a women's team.
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 15th 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 both the heptathlon (60 meters) and pentathlon (60m hurdles). Field events are slated to start at 1 p.m. with the men's pole vault and running events will get begin at 3 p.m. with the prelims of the men's mile.
On Sunday, the second day of the heptathlon is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m., followed by field events at 10 a.m. and running events at noon.
Men's Preview
Bashiru Abdullahi and Jemuel Miller each claimed gold medals in record-setting performances to lead the UTSA men to a third-place finish at last year's Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Abdullahi tied the meet record and improved his own school standard in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.77 seconds. Miller skipped to a mark of 16.09 meters (52-9.5) to win the triple jump and eclipse the previous UTSA mark of 15.99m (52-5.5) set by Devon Bond in 2010.
The Roadrunners scored 91.5 points to edge UTEP (91) for third place, finishing behind only Charlotte (155.5) and Middle Tennessee (94). It marked UTSA's second straight third-place finish and the eight consecutive top-three showing at the C-USA Indoor.
UTSA will enter this year's meet with a total of 23 marks that rank in the top eight in the league, including 11 in the top three.
Miller owns the top triple jump on the circuit with his season-best mark of 15.73m (51-7.25) posted at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational last month in Albuquerque. The sophomore All-American and defending champion also boasts the second-best long jump in C-USA, a career best 7.63m (25-0.5) from the Scarlet Knights Open in New York City.
The Roadrunners are deep in both horizontal jumps with a combined eight measurements that sit in the league's top eight.
Gabriel Binion and Jacob Jenkins rank second (15.44m/50-8) and third (15.15m/49-8.5), respectively behind Miller in the triple jump.
Following Miller in the long jump, the Roadrunners rank third through sixth in C-USA. All-American Christiaan Le Roux sits third (7.54m/24-9), followed by Dylan James (7.51m/24-7.75), Binion (7.51m/24-6.25) and Jack Turner (7.44m/24-5).
On the track, Mike Roth paces the league in the 400m with an altitude-adjusted time of 47.37 logged at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational.
Abdullahi will look to defend his crown in the 60m hurdles, as the senior enters the weekend armed with the second-fastest time, his school record-tying 7.77 clocking from the Scarlet Knights Open.
Dennis Phillips and Brice Chabot stand second (21.17) and third (21.30), respectively, in the 200m with Roth (21.33) and Trevion McCalla (21.35) right behind them in the standings.
Chabot also ranks fifth in the 60m (6.77), while Phillips and McCalla are knotted at seventh (7.68).
UTSA's 4x400m relay team of Logan Masters, Noah Rhodes, Phillips and Roth have posted the third-best time in the conference with an adjusted time of 3:14.08 from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational.
In the throws, Michael Campbell stands second in the shot put (17.10m/56-1.25) and seventh in the weight throw (17.86m/58-7.25). Jorge Ayala (6th/16.20m/53-1.75), Paul Bouey (7th/16.19m/53-1.5) and Angel Robles (8th/16.12m/52.10.75) also rank in the top eight in the shot.
Despite not owning a point total so far this season, Jack Turner, Joel McFarlane and Justin Wright all are expected to contend for points in the heptathlon. Turner won the event in 2020 and 2021 but missed last year's meet while recovering from an injury. McFarlane has secured the silver medal in each of the last two meets after a fifth-place showing in 2020. Wright collected the bronze medal in 2021 and was sixth in 2020 and seventh in 2019.
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 and '20 and placed third in 2019, 2021 and 2022, making it eight consecutive top-three finishes.
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 88 individual and relay league titles indoors. UTSA also can claim 20 meet accolades in its history: five high-point scorers, four athletes of the year, three outstanding track performers, three outstanding field performers, a pair of freshmen of the year, two freshmen of the meet and one field athlete of the year. Additionally, Fox has been named conference coach of the year eight times during his tenure.
Women's Preview
Guided by a total of six podium finishes, including All-American Ingeborg Gruenwald's second straight gold medal in the long jump, UTSA finished third at the 2022 C-USA Indoor Championships.
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. The 84 points mark the most scored since 116 in a runner-up finish at the 2013 Western Athletic Conference Championships.
UTSA enters this year's meet with 16 marks that rank in the top eight in C-USA, including a trio in the top three.
Gruenwald leaped to the league's top mark in the long jump with a 6.18m (20-3.5) effort at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational last month in Albuquerque. The Austrian also ranks eighth in the triple jump (11.71m/38-5).
Oreoluwa Adamson is in the top three in both horizontal jumps. The London, England, native stands second in the triple jump with a 12.71m (41-8.5) effort that earned gold at the Scarlet Knights Open and C-USA Field Athlete of the Week honors earlier this month. She is third in the long jump with a 6.10m (20-0.25) measurement at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational.
Amaya King enters this weekend with the league's fourth-best mark in the shot put, a 15.06m (49-5) heave posted at the Houston Invitational on Jan. 27.
Acacia Astwood ranks fourth in the weight throw with a season-best measurement of 17.67m (57-11.5), while Isabella Simonelli stands seventh (17.11m/56-1.75).
Sigrid Kleive has the eighth-best clearance in the high jump with a 1.65m (5-5) showing at the Lumberjack Team Challenge.
On the track, Alanah Yukich raced to the fourth-fastest time in the 60m hurdles when she clocked an altitude-adjusted time of 8.57 at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational. The Australian also sits fifth in the 400m (55.5) and anchored the 4x400m relay to a 3:50.60 clocking at that meet, joining Ibiso David-West, Marie Duvigneau and Mackenzie Grimes for the fourth-best clocking in C-USA this season.
Newcomer Lauren Roy sits fifth in the 60m with an adjusted time of 7.50 and eighth in the 200m (24.23), while Duvigneau ranks eighth in the 400m (56.47).
Abby Balli will tote the sixth-fastest time in the 800m, a 2:14.11 recorded at the Scarlet Knights Open, while Sabrina Goains stands seventh in the 5,000m (18:25.53).
Maren Wilms will aim to score points in the pentathlon for the fourth straight season after finishing fifth, fourth and fourth at the last three meets.
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 23 conference indoor meets including six 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 67 individual and relay titles at conference indoor meets on the women's side. The Roadrunners have earned 18 meet accolades in their history: six outstanding track performers, five athletes of the year, five high-point scorers, one outstanding field performer and a newcomer of the year.
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