ARLINGTON, Texas – A busy weekend is on tap for the UT Arlington men's and women's track and field teams, with Joel Bengtsson set to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships while the outdoor season gets underway at Maverick Stadium with the UTA Invitational.
 
Bengtsson will lace them up in the prelims of the 60m hurdles on Friday evening, Mar. 10, at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico, with the final race taking place Saturday night.
 
As for the UTA Invite, it got underway earlier on Thursday with the discus and shot put, but ramps up with day-long action on Friday, beginning with the javelin to lead off the field events at 10 a.m., and continues with running events commencing at 11:30 a.m. and going through the 4x400m relays at 3:30 p.m. A full schedule of events, and live results for the meet, is linked at the top of this release.
 
BENGTSSON PREVIEW
The 2023 Western Athletic Conference Indoor Champion in the 60m hurdles, Bengtsson has been slotted into Heat 2 on Friday, which will take place at 8:55 p.m. CT. Of the 16 total qualifiers – eight hurdlers in each heat – Bengtsson is one of only two competitors from a non-Power 5 school.
 
Bengtsson needs to either finish in the top-2 of his heat or have one of the next four-fastest times in order to be one of the eight who move on to the final, which will take place on Saturday at 8:40 p.m. CT.
 
Live broadcast coverage will be available on ESPN+, with live timing also available via Flash Results. UTA has produced three National Championships in the history of the track and field program, with the most recent coming courtesy of Alexus Henry in the high jump at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
Bengtsson broke a 25-year-old WAC record with a blistering 7.68 en route to the title last month. That time also bettered his own school record set last season, and has him currently tied for the 10th-fastest time in the nation this year. A senior from Landskrona, Sweden, Bengtsson was also a two-time Sun Belt Conference Indoor Champion in the 60m hurdles, going back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.
 
UTA INVITE THURSDAY RECAP – SHOT PUT & DISCUS
In his first outdoor meet for the Mavericks, Tres Rodriguez finished 2nd in the men's shot put with a throw of 15.19m. Brady Shadrick posted a 4th-place showing with a throw of 13.08m.
 
In the men's discus, Austin Nkwoparah came in 3rd with a mark of 48.53m, just short of besting his PR. In the women's discus, Abigail Flores registered 5th with a throw of 40.15m.
 
UTA INVITE FRIDAY PREVIEW
UTA welcomes back 10 all-conference performers from last season's outdoor team, including five USTFCCCA All-Americans.
 
All-American Lucas Van Klaveren looks to cap off his UTA career in grand fashion and improve on his 4th-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon. He broke the school record, which was set in 2013, at the outdoor championships last season. Earlier this year, he finished 5th in the WAC Indoor Championships in the heptathlon.
 
Jade Bontke returns after delivering the best performance in the heptathlon in school history last season, scoring 5,692 points. She was named an All-American last year after finishing 19th overall at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Earlier this year, Bontke won the 2023 WAC Indoor Championship in the pentathlon.
 
Jackson Cichon comes back for his sophomore season, one campaign removed from being named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. In the 2023 indoor season, Cichon earned the silver medal at the WAC Championships in the 800m with a time of 1:51.02.
 
All-Conference First Teamer Shelby West returns after setting a school record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.68. She is also joined by fellow all-conference selections Tatyana Terrell and Simona Cabella from a year ago.
 
On the men's side, all-conference performers Marvin Walford, Khalid Mendez and Jarvis Miles are all back as well to help anchor a talented group.
 
UTA has a slew of newcomers as well who look to make an immediate impact in the outdoor season after a solid indoor season showing.
 
NEXT UP
This will be the first of eight outdoor meets for UTA in the regular season, leading into the WAC Championships May 11-13 in Nacogdoches. The Mavs will next head to Fort Worth for the TCU Alumni Invite on Saturday, Mar. 18.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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