The UTSA Roadrunners participated in the FasTrack Invitational on Jan. 19 at Yeoman Fieldhouse in Houston, TX. The meet only lasted the day but the ‘Runners were successful enough to secure nine gold medals amongst the men and women with multiple ‘Runners being able to break personal bests.
Senior thrower Vincent Perez, who is a graduate of Marshall High School, had a career best in the weight throw which helped him secure a gold medal with an overall throw of 18.67 meters, being almost one meter further than the next closest thrower.
The men’s long jump team secured all three top spots in the event. Freshman Gary Haasbroek won the event with a jump of 7.55 meters. Sophomore Andre Douglas got second place with junior Jake McDaniel grabbing the bronze medal.
Douglas found success in the men’s triple jump by landing a gold medal in the event for the second week in a row. After blowing his competition out of the water in his first meet, the young Jamaican outdid himself and was able to beat his indoor personal record with a jump of 15.59 meters.
Senior Patrick Prince won gold in the 60 meter hurdles with an overall time of 7.84 seconds. The last gold medal on the men’s side went to senior Desmond Jefferson who won the 400 meter dash with a time of 48.98 seconds. Freshman Jamal Anderson cleared the 6-2 mark in the high jump which garnered him a third place finish while junior Mike Zuniga won bronze in the shot put with a throw of 13.45 meters.
The men’s 4×400 meter relay team was three seconds away from placing third. The team was made up of Haasbroek, junior Andrew Pirgo and sophomores Austin Crocker and Tyler Welch.
On the women’s teams there was a total of four gold medals won. The 4×400 meter relay team consists of freshman Orla Brothers, junior Darionne Gibson, sophomore Jamiah Jackson and senior Sierra Andres were able to secure a first place finish with a time of 3 minutes 51.56 seconds. Brothers and Gibson also participated in the women’s 400 meter dash with the freshman from England taking the gold with a time of 56.47 seconds and Gibson securing a second place finish with a time of 56.75 seconds.
Senior Gabriyella Torres won her first event of the season by winning gold in the long jump with a leap of 5.76 meters. The last gold medal was won by senior distance runner Charlette Janicek who won by 22 seconds and recorded a time of 11 minutes, 12.99 seconds in the 3000 meters.
Junior Maia Campbell and senior Caroline Bellows both had second places with Campbell a throw of 16.63 meters and Bellows clearing the 3.64 meter mark on the women’s pole vault. Jackson also placed second in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.63 seconds. Junior distance runner Rian Rodriguez finished day with a bronze in the mile with a time of 5 minutes, 48.91 seconds.
The Roadrunners will be back in Houston once again for a two-day meet on January 25-26 at the Yeoman Fieldhouse.
