ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington track & field team started postseason competition Thursday at the WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Senior
Jaalah Puryear led the Mavericks with a broken program record performance in the women's hammer throw.
Puryear earned a second-place finish in the event with a throw of 56.95m, breaking her own school record previously set earlier this season at the Clyde Hart Classic (56.90m). The senior has broken the outdoor hammer program record twice and holds the indoor hammer program record – all accomplished in her senior campaign.
UTA also scored valuable points in the throwing events as sophomore
Esther Adedire recorded a personal-best mark of 52.41m in the women's hammer throw, while
Logan Villalva placed fifth with a throw of 55.31m. Adedire also finished fifth in her event.
In the women's pole vault, senior
Simona Cabella earned silver with a clearance of 3.80m. Freshman
Ava Lin followed in third place at 3.70m, while junior
Sophia Allen placed fifth with a mark of 3.60m.
Junior
Eliza Lemberga finished third in the women's javelin with a throw of 44.34m. Lemberga also sits atop the heptathlon standings after day one with 3,197 points, highlighted by a first-place finish in the shot put (13.09m) and a runner-up finish in the high jump (1.65m)
In the women's 10K,
Dorcas Jepkosgei captured a silver medal with a time of 34:52.44, while Matroline Jepkemboi placed fifth in 36:33.19. In the men's 10K,
Toby Eaton placed fourth with a personal best time of 30:55.47.
Multiple Mavericks also advanced to finals in Thursday's preliminary events.
Emilia Mandl (4:44.01) and
Linn Adolfsson (4:44.02) qualified for the women's 1500m final after placing fifth and sixth, respectively. In the men's 1500m prelim,
Mateo Doherty (third place, 3:53.51) and
Alex Kalmar (sixth, 3:56.05) qualified to the finals.
Alexis Cain (sixth place, 23.75),
Eli England (fourth place, 20.88) and
Jayden Haynes (21.18) all qualified to the 200-meter final. Senior
Zaire Moore (seventh place, 1:02.87) qualified to the final in the women's 400-meter hurdles, while freshman Davin Payne (sixth place, 53.38) qualified on the men's side.
NEXT UP
UTA will begin day two of WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships with combined events Friday morning. The decathlon resumes at 9 a.m., with the men's 110-meter hurdles, while the heptathlon continues at 9:15 a.m., with long jump.
-- #BuckEm –
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow the UTA track and field and cross-country teams on X (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).
