LUBBOCK – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) indoor track & field teams are west Texas bound for one final tune-up meet before the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Indoor Conference Championships. 
 
UTRGV will be competing Friday and Saturday at the Jarvis Scott Open at Texas Tech's Sports Performance Center. Action begins Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. Fans can watch the meet on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. 
 
The hosting Red Raiders are ranked No. 1 in the nation on the men's side and No. 12 in the women's standings. The meet will draw in other top competitors, giving the Vaqueros a great environment to push themselves in preparation for the conference meet. 
 
"We're feeling very good. We had a week off to fine-tune a lot of things we've been working on. We hit a little bit of a mental reset as well and now I know they're rearing to go and get back to it," head track & field/cross country coach Shareese Hicks said. "The main message is that this is a dress rehearsal for conference. I think we timed it perfectly so everyone is firing and ready to go, so really we're trying to move up the rankings in all of our event groups and really establish our trophy push." 
 
UTRGV has six student-athletes currently sitting in medal contention in seven individual events on the WAC performance list prior to the conference meet set for Feb. 19-20. Additionally, the men's 4x400-meter relay and the men's distance medley relay are both ranked third heading into the weekend. Sophomores Symoria Adkins and Jedidiah Udunna, freshmen Omolola Kuponiyi and James Voss, and juniors Zoë Adams and Kevin Washington are among the top performers. 
 
The men's 400 group of juniors Jermarrion Stewart and Emmanuel Wanga and sophomores Sam Johnson II and Derrius Henry finds itself ranked 35^th in the nation as an event squad and is looking to continue to rise this weekend. 
 
The Vaqueros shined at this meet last season, breaking a pair of program records and totaling 32 personal records with 14 entries into the program record books. They're hopeful to have another strong weekend in Lubbock and show the development they've been making. 
 
"The off weekend was really a setup for what they're going to be able to do this weekend. The practices and everything they've put together so far is in preparation for this moment," Hicks said. "The main message is really just being very confident. We're really looking forward to bringing our Valley speed, jumps, distance, throws and really representing for our university." 

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