April 1, 2011
ARLINGTON, Tex. - UT Arlington hosts the 35th annual Bobby Lane Invitational on Saturday at Maverick Stadium.
Some of the world's top track and field athletes will compete in the event - the lone home meet of the year for the Mavericks.
"This is one of our favorite days of the entire Track and Field season," UTA head coach John Sauerhage said. "We love putting on this event and pride ourselves on bringing out a strong field every year. This year is no different. We will have some of the top competitors in the world here this weekend and we can't wait to see how our teams stack up with some steep competition."
The meet features 17 teams - UT Arlington, Baylor, TCU, SMU, North Texas, Texas State, Northwestern State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Abilene Christian, Dallas Baptist, Cameron (Okla.), East Central Oklahoma, McMurry, Midwestern State, Northwood, Tarleton State and Texas College.
The unattached competitors include United States Olympian Darvis Patton, who is scheduled to compete in the 200m. Mike Rodgers, who won the 2009 U.S. Championships in the 100m, is scheduled compete in the 200m. Former UTA stars Jarid Vaughan and Jared Connaughton are both slated to compete in the Bobby Lane Invitational as well - Vauahan in the 100m and 200m and Connaughton in the 100m. Both will compete in the 4x100m Relay. Bryan Barnett, a member of the Candian Olympics team, is set to compete in the 200m.
Adrienne Power headlines the unattached women. Power was the Canadian national champion in the 200m. She is scheduled to compete in the 200m and the 400m.
Several UTA athletes currently rank in the top 10 in the nation in different events.
Casey Keeter currently ranks fifth in the nation in the shot put with a throw of 18.12 meters.
The 4x100m Relay team of Lionel Mungwari, Cordero Gray, Clayton Vaughn and Andrew Pettis is currently eighth in the nation with a time of 39.98.
Gray also ranks in the top 10 in the 200m, sitting at 10th place with a time of 20.94.
Ivan Storic ranks just outside the top 10 in the javelin throw, where he sits at 14th with a personal-best throw of 68.07 meters.
A few other Mavs lead the Southland Conference in their respective events.
Shannon Reynolds currently leads the women's 200m with a time of 24.32.
Esther Abuto turned in the league's season-best time in the 800m in her lone race of the season with a time of 2:11.31.
On the men's side, Vaughn, a true freshman, leads in the 100m with a time of 10.43.
Gray, who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year as a junior, will make his season debut in the 100m this weekend.
UTA will provide live results that can be followed at this link: http://www.utamavs.com/livestats/m-track/2011utabobbylane/.
