HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros track & field program is heading to Rice for the J. Fred Duckett Twilight running Saturday at the Wendel D. Ley Track.
This will be UTRGV's final non-conference meet and will serve as the track & field South Texas Showdown presented by Rally Credit Union. Along with the Vaqueros and Showdown opponent Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, participating teams include the hosting Rice Owls, Houston, Sam Houston, Dallas Baptist, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern and a collection of sub-NCAA Div. I programs.
"Our team is full of competitors. We love to compete in every single way, so we're looking forward to going for that South Texas Showdown win as well. Everyone is going to put their best foot forward and bring a lot of positive energy and momentum going into this weekend against some stiff competition," head track & field/cross country coach
Shareese Hicks said.
The Vaqueros have shown consistent development across all disciplines throughout the outdoor season. Each meet has seen new program records and personal bests set as the times keep getting faster and marks keep getting bigger.
Among a collection of standouts have been sophomores
Symoria Adkins, Hannah Hilding, Jamari Harts and
Jedidiah Udunna. Newcomers such as
Zoë Adams, Kailah Gilmore and
Hebrew Hunter have also shined.
Adkins and Udunna were named the female and male athletes of the year, respectively, at UTRGV's annual V Awards celebrating the top student-athlete performances for the 2023-24 athletic year. Gilmore was recognized as the comeback athlete of the year for her incredible marks this season after missing last year due to injury.
With the awards and six top spots on the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) performance list, along with a slew of student-athletes ranking in scoring position in a variety of events, the Vaqueros feel like they have a lot of momentum and confidence on their side. They swept the South Texas Showdown last year and are hopeful to not only defeat their rivals again, but to get into a good spot before the outdoor conference meet.
"Not only was it a big night at the V Awards, but I think we're going to take the momentum from watching baseball beat Texas into the meet at Rice," Hicks said. "I'm really looking forward to us continuing to capitalize on all those things this weekend. It's a huge dress rehearsal and it's a great meet to do that at. We got a few school records out of that meet last year, so it left a really good taste in our mouths going into this year's meet. We're making sure we're ironing out all the kinks for the conference championship."
UTRGV Schedule
Field Events
Women's hammer, 10 a.m.
Hannah Hilding
Men's javelin, 10 a.m.
Julian Trevino
Women's long jump, 12 p.m.
Tolu Odetola
Jordyn Tiggs
Aja Johnson
Rayja'nae Pettit
Women's triple jump (follows long)
Gabrielle Thomas
Men's long jump, 12 p.m.
Jedidiah Udunna
Kevin Washington
Men's triple jump (follows long)
Hebrew Hunter
Aaron Cooper
Women's discus, 4 p.m.
Omolola Kuponiyi
Adelaide Fleischmann
Hannah Hilding
Men's shot put, 4 p.m.
Antoine Walker
Women's shot put, 6:30 p.m.
Hannah Hilding
Omolola Kuponiyi
Men's discus, 6:30 p.m.
Antoine Walker
Track Events, Afternoon Session
Men's 100-meter dash, 2:10 p.m.
James Voss
Jaylen Critton
Jaqualand Fields
Jalen Nero
Jaleel Scott
Women's 400-meter hurdles, 3:30 p.m.
Kalissa Cavazos
Women's 400-meter dash, 3:50 p.m.
Aliyah Castillo
Men's 200-meter dash, 4:50 p.m.
Jedidiah Udunna
Jaleel Scott
Gael Romo
Track Events, Evening Session
Women's 4x100-meter relay, 6 p.m.
UTRGV
Men's 4x100-meter relay, 6:05 p.m.
UTRGV
Men's 400-meter hurdles, 6:25 p.m.
Jaylen Critton
Daniel Siaffa
Jaqualand Fields
Women's 400-meter dash, 6:35 p.m.
Trinity Kirk
P'soularia Maxey
Zoë Adams
Men's 400-meter dash, 6:40 p.m.
Derrius Henry
Emmanuel Wanga
Jermarrion Stewart
Sam Johnson II
Women's 100-meter dash, 6:50 p.m.
Nayla Harris
Yaria Akers
Men's 100-meter dash, 6:55 p.m.
Jamari Harts
Gael Romo
Women's 100-meter hurdles, 7:05 p.m.
Symoria Adkins
Men's 110-meter hurdles, 7:10 p.m.
Jaylen Critton
James Voss
Women's 800-meter run, 7:15 p.m.
Estrella Medellin
Kailey Salazar
Women's 200-meter dash, 7:25 p.m.
Yaria Akers
Zoë Adams
Men's 200-meter dash, 7:30 p.m.
Jalen Nero
Sam Johnson II
Jamari Harts
Men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, 7:35 p.m.
Ricardo Garcia
Women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, 7:50 p.m.
Samantha Gonzalez
Women's 1,500-meter run, 8:10 p.m.
Estrella Medellin
Men's 1,500-meter run, 8:35 p.m.
JD Corona
Abraham Morales
Women's 4x400-meter relay, 9:05 p.m.
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Men's 5,000-meter run, 9:30 p.m.
Abraham Morales
Ricardo Garcia
Women's 5,00-meter run, 9:50 p.m.
Faith Cruz
