Feb. 26, 2011
Final Stats 
Norman, Okla. - UT Arlington made valiant comebacks in the men's and women's competitions Saturday at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships, finishing second in both in Norman, Okla.
"We knew we would put up a big day Saturday because we were so reliant on those events," UTA coach John Sauerhage said "I'd say the men were only 15 points off our projections. We really didn't miss by that much. UTSA, especially has a really good team. You have to tip your cap to their athletes and their coaching staff. They defended their title very well.
"I'm disappointed we didn't win but very pleased with the efforts of our athletes. We competed like champions and there was just a team that outscored us."
Cordero Gray and Pamela Vinson earned High-Point Scorer honors. Both sprinters won the 60m and 200m.
Gray won the 60m with a time of 6.69 and won the 200m by posting a 21.61.
"It's nice to see Cordero be a double winner his senior year," Sauerhage said. "He deserves it. He's been competing against national-caliber competition in the Southland for four years."
Vinson recorded times of 7.48 in the 60m and 24.35 in the 200m to win the events.
"I'm so impressed with Pamela being a freshman and doing that," Sauerhage said. "She is part of a great infusion of young talent that we have compiled and, combined with some great senior leadership, we have very good track teams."
Gray and Vinson also scored points as members of the 4x440yd Relay teams. Vinson, along with Shannon Reynolds, DeAndrea Smith and Brittany Culbertson, helped the women to a second-place finish. The team of Gray, Isiah Clements, Andrew Pettis and Juan Lewis finished sixth.
Meanwhile, Romain Martin shattered the Southland Conference record in the heptathlon, posting a score of 5728. The sophomore finished top-two in each of the seven categories to win the event. He also received an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships with his performance. Martin's time currently ranks fourth in the nation.
"It's been a long time since we had an automatic qualifier in the NCAA Championships," Sauerhage said. "When the pressure was on the most he delivered his best performance. We're very fortunate to have him and we will do our best to see he performs at his best at the NCAAs. We would be thrilled if he would go top 4 at the NCAA Championships."
Lewis and Esther Abuto also claimed individual championships in the men's 400m and the women's 800m, respectively.
The men racked up 111 points, finishing behind UTSA (153 points). The women totaled 97 points, finishing runner-up to Stephen F. Austin (115.5 points).
The two teams finished in second largely on the strength of their running events.
The Mavs dominated the 200m with Gray winning, Lewis finishing second, Lionel Mungwari in third and Clayton Vaughn in fifth.
Vaughn finished third in 60m as well.
Lewis won the 400m with a time of 48.28, edging Darryl Hayes of Sam Houston State by 0.01.
In the 800m, Dwight Robinson placed second with a time of 1:52.20. Anthony Rene finished fifth. The Mavs had a pair of point-scorers in the Mile Run as well, with Heinz Schwarzkopf finishing sixth and Anthony Hilliman placing eighth.
The women gave Vinson plenty of support in the running events.
Reynolds finished fourth in the 60m and third in the 200m. Smith and Culbertson placed third and fifth in the 400m, respectively.
Abuto and Lindsey Putman gave the Mavericks a predictable strong showing in the 800m with the pair finishing first and second with times of 2:11.06 and 2:11.91, respectively. Jennifer Carey gave UTA a third point-scorer in the event by placing seventh.
The Mavs also received points from three athletes in the Mile Run, where Putman finished second with a time of 5:02.58. Amanda McMahon and Marissa Paz placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
In field events, Renan Palma finished third in the 60m Hurdles with a time of 8.03. Casey Keeter and Branko Petrovic finished third and fifth, respectively, in the shot put.
Samantha Nash tied for seventh in the pole vault.
