SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros outdoor track & field teams kick off a busy month of April at the Roadrunner Invitational on Saturday at the UTSA Park West Athletics Complex.
It's the first of four meets, with three coming in consecutive weeks, that the Vaqueros will compete in during April. The meet begins at 10 a.m. with field events and running events will be on a rolling schedule beginning at 2 p.m. The hosting UTSA Roadrunners and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders will be UTRGV's competition.
"The main thing that we're looking forward to now that we're in the meat of our competition schedule is execution," UTRGV head coach
Shareese Hicks said. "We're going to continue to support each other, be positive, and put it in the back of our head what we want to do and how we want to execute in our future competitions."
The Vaqueros have nine top 10 rankings in seven events on the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) performance list with six weeks remaining before conference championships. Sophomores
Jermarrion Stewart and
Michael Campbell and junior
Yashawn Hamilton have been among UTRGV's top performers.
Campbell boasts the best mark in the men's shot put of any WAC competitors and is third in discus. Stewart is fourth in the men's 100 dash and sixth in the 200-meter dash. Hamilton ranks seventh in the men's 100-meter dash and 14
th in long jump.
Additionally, sophomore PSJA High alum
Marco Guajardo ranks fourth in the men's triple jump and 10
th in javelin, junior La Feria alum
Julian Trevino is seventh in men's javelin, and graduate student La Joya High alum
Ricardo Mendoza is 10
th in the men's 800-meter run.
Hicks wants to see the Vaqueros really push for top times and marks at the Roadrunner Invitational and upcoming meets to build up steam for conference and qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries.
"We're getting closer to our conference championship, so now is that make-or-break time where you really have to start to put fast times out there," Hicks said. "We'd like to see more student-athletes qualify for the NCAA prelims as well, so this meet and the next two meets will be very critical times to get that done."
Other athletes to watch on Saturday include sophomores
Samantha Gonzalez and
Ricardo Garcia, who will finally get the chance to compete in their preferred event, the steeplechase. Redshirt senior
Christian Hall-Gardner will be making his outdoor debut competing in all three throwing events. Sophomore Lyford alum
Kayleen May has been performing well in the women's javelin.
"Christian is coming off a little shoulder bang-up, but he's fully recovered now and had some great practices so he should be one to look out for," Hicks said. "A person flying under the radar who has really, really progressed is
Kayleen May in the javelin. She's held it down in that very critical event. Every meet has been a PR for her, so we're excited to see her keep going for more."
MEET SCHEDULE
Field Events
Men's Hammer Throw, 10 a.m.
Christian Hall-Gardner
Women's Javelin, 10 a.m.
Laura Duma
Kayleen May
Men's Javelin, 11 a.m.
Marco Guajardo
Julian Trevino
Men's Discus, 12 p.m.
Michael Campbell
Christian Hall-Gardner
Women's Shot Put, 12 p.m.
Laura Duma
Women's High Jump, 12 p.m.
Annelle Rodriguez
Men's High Jump, following Women's
Alex Galvan
Women's Long Jump, 12 p.m.
Laura Duma
Daniella Muniz
Men's Long Jump, 12 p.m.
Alex Galvan
Yashawn Hamilton
Men's Triple Jump, following Men's Long Jump
Marco Guajardo
Vincent Nguyen
Men's Shot Put, 1 p.m.
Michael Campbell
Christian Hall-Gardner
Running Events (Rolling Schedule)
Men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, 2 p.m.
Ricardo Garcia
Edward Ramos
Women's 3,000-meter steeplechase
Samantha Gonzalez
Men's 1,500-meter run
Alex Canales
Dominik Medrano
Ricardo Mendoza
Alex Munoz
Tristan Pena
Women's 1,500-meter run
Janie Delgado
Anahi Romo
Men's 400-meter dash
Miguel Escamilla
Jorge Salazar
Women's 400-meter dash
Lauryn Asiedu
Devon Goodwin
Elizabeth Ortiz
Men's 100-meter dash
Alex Galvan
Marco Guajardo
Yashawn Hamilton
Jaleel Scot
Jermarrion Stewart
Women's 100-meter dash
Mikayla Roell
Men's 400-meter hurdles
Alex Galvan
Women's 400-meter hurdles
Uxia Pereira
Lisa Sanchez
Jasmyn Tulloch
Men's 200-meter dash
Yashawn Hamilton
Jaleel Scott
Jermarrion Stewart
Women's 200-meter dash
Lauryn Asiedu
Devon Goodwin
Elizabeth Ortiz
Mikayla Roell
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