NEW ORLEANS, La. – Freshman sprinter
Iyana Gray has earned the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Freshman of the Year after an outstanding start to her college career in the orange and blue.
Gray has been the top sprinter for the UTA women's track and field team during the 2022 indoor season. She holds a season-best time of 7.41 in the women's 60-meter dash and a school-record time of 23.70 in the women's 200 meters, a mark she set at the SBC Indoor Championships, taking second overall and good for 66th-best in the nation.
Gray finished fourth at the SBC Indoor Championships in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.47. She made the finals in every event in which she competed this season, including a win in her very first meet at the Ted Nelson Invitational at Texas A&M.
She is the second female athlete to receive SBC Indoor Freshman of the Year from the conference and the third from the track and field team. Ismael Kone took home honors on the men's side in 2020, while Astrid Rosvall was honored in 2017.
A total of 14 athletes earned a spot on the all-conference team after their performance at the indoor event, including the trio of
Bryson DeBerry,
Jade Bontke, and
Lucas Van Klaveren, who saw their tickets punched to the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex on March 11-12. All three athletes won their events at the SBC Championship with DeBerry taking the high jump, Bontke winning the pentathlon, and Van Klaveren winning the heptathlon.
Pole vault champion
Abigail Kelly-Salo earned a spot on the first team, while the trio of
Tatyana Terrell,
Vanessa Ugorji, and Sheby West all earned first team honors for their win in the 4x400.
Marquentin Barnes,
Jackson Cichon,
Adam Herrera, and
Zion Smith, earned first team honors after their thrilling win in the Distance Relay.
Gray, along with
Madeleine Rowe, earned spots on the second team with Rowe earning hers in the mile, while
Jarvis Miles was named to the third team in the 400 meter dash.
DeBerry, Bontke, and Van Klaveren will prepare for indoor nationals while the rest of the team will set their sites on the outdoor season beginning on Mar. 12 at the North Texas Dual.
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow the UTA track and field and cross country teams on Twitter (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).
2022 Sun Belt Women's Indoor All-Conference First Team
Jade Bontke, UTA
Abigail Kelly-Salo, UTA
Tatyana Terrell, UTA
Vanessa Ugorji, UTA
Shelby West, UTA
2022 Sun Belt Women's Indoor All-Conference Second Team
Iyana Gray, UTA
Madeleine Rowe, UTA
2022 Sun Belt Men's Indoor All-Conference First Team
Marquentin Barnes, UTA
Jackson Cichon, UTA
Bryson DeBerry, UTA
Adam Herrera, UTA
Zion Smith, UTA
Lucas Van Klaveren, UTA
2022 Sun Belt Men's Indoor All-Conference Third Team
Jarvis Miles, UTA
