JONESBORO, Ark. – UTA won five event titles, four men's and one women's, on Sunday to close out the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The men's team, which was bidding to complete its third "triple crown" championship since joining the league in 2013-14, finished third, while the women placed sixth.
 
UTA closed with 109 points on the men's side, which was 13.5 points behind first-place Texas State and eight behind Arkansas State. The women totaled 58.5 points to once again finish in the top half of the 12 teams.
 
Erik Martinsson dominated the men's 800 meters, breaking his own Sun Belt meet record in the process. His time of 1:47.99 was 2 ½ seconds faster than the race's runner up.
 
Senior Deontre Haynes broke through with his first career conference title, as he claimed the 100 meters with a time of 10.30. The photo finish showed Haynes with an official time of 10.293, which gave him a win by .006.
 
The women and men earned a sweep of the 1500-meter races. Madeleine Rowe began the day with a victory in the first race, coming from behind with a huge kick to win by .05 with a time of 4:35.83.
 
Senior Grayson Birka also recorded his first individual league title in the men's 1500m. He pulled away over the final 50 meters to win with a time of 3:51.45.
 
UTA closed out the meet with a triumph in the men's 4x400m relay. The quartet of D'Undre Mitchell, David Seatrunk, Brenden Wallace and Martinsson posted a time of 3:08.06.
 
Freshman Vanessa Ugorji also had a big day, setting a school record in the 400 meters. Her time of 54.01 bested the previous standard by .03. Ugorji finished in second place in the 400m and was fourth in the 200m (24.21).
 
In addition, Justin Domangue earned a podium spot for the third time in as many events, as he took third in the men's 5000 meters. He ran a time of 14:39.02 in his third grueling distance race in as many days. With 20 total points, Domangue earned the Men's High Point Scorer award at the meet.
 
UTA finished fifth through seventh in the men's 400 meters with Seatrunk leading the trio with a 47.80. He was followed to the line by Mitchell (47.86) and Wallace (48.04).
 
The Maverick men had three athletes register fourth-place finishes courtesy of Haynes in the 200m (21.06), Victor Fincher in the 110m hurdles (14.14) and Darius Prescott in the triple jump (49-9 ¾).
 
Other point scorers for the men included: Michael Guerrero in the 5000m (5th, 15:53.62), Cole Klashinsky in the 5000m (6th, 14:55.78), Isaiah McBride in the 100m (6th, 10.54) and Garrett Moore in the 400m hurdles (7th, 53.28).
 
For the women, Trishawna Crawford was fifth in the 100 meters with a time of 11.87. Senior Tricia Williams scored points in her second event of the meet, as she placed seventh in the discus with a mark of 136-08.
 
Qualifying athletes based on their season-best marks will be competing at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, Calif., May 23-25. The NCAA Championships are set for June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
 
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