FORT WORTH – UT Arlington's
Arthur Petersen shattered the program record in the javelin throw with a mark of 73.11m to highlight the Mavericks' season-opening outdoor track and field meet Saturday at the TCU Invitational from the Lowdon Track Complex.
Petersen – who had his true freshman season cut short last year due to COVID-19 – destroyed the 23-year-old outdoor mark of 70.59m set by Wayne Cunnings in 1988 on his way to easily claiming a season-opening title by nearly six meters from the runner-up. It's also currently the 2nd-best throw in the nation this outdoor season behind only a 75.05m distance.
He was one of four Mavs who won events on the sun-splashed, light-wind day. Four others finished in 2nd place, and three more posted 3rd-place finishes as the Mavs had 11 top-3 showings on the day and multiple other personal bests.
Bryson DeBerry – who was named a First Team All-American in the indoor high jump this week – carried that momentum into the outdoor season as he won the event in convincing fashion by leaping 2.14m – just .01m shy of a top-5 mark in program history. That 2.14m clearance was .04 better than the runner-up from TCU, and a dominating .24m better than 3rd place.
The Plainview, Texas, native has now won the high jump in four of five combined indoor/outdoor events in 2021, with the lone exception coming at the NCAA Championships last weekend when he finished top 8.
Competing for the first time as a member of the program, spring addition
Liv Cantby threw the 2nd-best javelin in program history with an impressive 47.62m to easily win the event in her collegiate debut. The mark is 2nd in program annals to only a 50.32m toss by Rhiley Fritz in 2019.
Running for the first time as a UTA team member in over a year thanks to COVID eligibility for the outdoor season,
Justin Domangue set a personal record to win the 1500m with a time of 3:51.97. Cole Klashinksy finished 2nd (3:52.14) as those two both finished more than seven seconds clear of 3rd place.
Among the other UTA top-3 finishers and/or personal bests set on Saturday:
- Jade Bontke set PRs in the high jump at 1.64m and javelin throw at 31.28. Later on during the running events, she also set a PR in the 200m with a time of 25.27.
- Shelby West, running the 100m hurdles for the first time, finished 3rd with a time of 14.47.
- Medric Roberson finished 2nd in the 110m hurdles (14.51). In that same event, Lucas Van Klaveren (14.75) and Jorrdyn Dunn (15.41) both established personal bests.
- In the 800m, Victor Bocanegra just missed a PR as he posted a 2nd-place performance after crossing in 1:53.61. Connor Butterfield just missed a top-3 finish by .01 of a second as he posted a 1:54.09 time for a 4th-place finish.
- Also competing in the long jump, DeBerry nearly added another top-3 finish as – competing for the first time – he leapt 6.86m to close in 4th place, just .02m shy of finishing 3rd.
- Juleen Lewis narrowly missed tying a PR in the long jump by .01m as she posted a 5.92m mark to tie for 4th overall.
- Running the 400m hurdles for the first time, Shelby West finished 3rd for the Mavs in a time of 1:02.20.
- Valeria Diaz gave the Mavs a 2nd-place finish in the 3000m as, running the event for the first time, she clocked a time of 10:10.71 to close nearly 10 seconds ahead of 3rd place.
- Following right behind Diaz in the men's race and equaling her placement was Marquentin Barnes with a 2nd-place showing the 3000m in a time of 8:42.73 – just .44 of a second shy of winning.
- Cameron Davis finished 3rd in the triple jump with a mark of 13.83 in his first competitive meet.
NEXT UP
UTA will face a quick turnaround when the Mavs head to the Texas Relays in Austin Mar. 25-27.
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