BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros track & field program will be back in action Saturday at the Texas A&M Invitational for the second meet of the outdoor season. 
 
Action begins with field events at 12:30 p.m. at E.B. Cushing Stadium and running events will start at 5:30 p.m. Attending teams include the hosting Texas A&M Aggies, Arkansas-Little Rock, North Texas, TCU, Texas A&M-Kingsville and UTSA. 
 
"Really expecting another strong showing for all of our student-athletes across the board. They're going into it confident and knowing what to work on. It's only meet No. 2 and there's plenty of time left in the season, but I'm optimistic about what we can get done in College Station," head coach Shareese Hicks said. 
 
The Vaqueros opened the outdoor season last week in Houston and had a solid meet, tallying 17 personal bests, 11 top-three finishes and making eight entries into the program record books. Hicks called the meet the best outdoor opener the team has had during her tenure. 
 
UTRGV saw four student-athletes and one relay jump to the top spot on the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) performance list after last week, including Daniel Siaffa in the men's 400-meter hurdles, Jedidiah Udunna in the men's long jump, Aaron Cooper in the men's triple jump, Adelaide Fleischmann in the women's discus, and the women's 4x400-meter relay team. Udunna also ranks 11^th in the nation in long jump after one meet. 
 
The Vaqueros are hoping to improve on their strong start at the Texas A&M Invitational, but Hicks also doesn't want the team to feel too much pressure. Competing at a Power Five school with good competition will test their mental toughness, and Hicks believes the team will respond to the challenge with their positive, supportive team culture and put up another round of fast times and big marks. 
 
"Main thing is going out and having fun, but also maintaining our composure," Hicks said. A lot of times when we get to meets that are a little more prestigious, we tend to forget what got us there. We want to make sure they zone in on what they've been working on in practice and keep holding each other accountable and keep moving up the ranks." 

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