Texas Border Business
HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) track & field teams broke two program records to close out the Houston G5 & Super 22 Invitational on Saturday at Yeoman Fieldhouse.
For the third week in a row, the women’s shot put record went down, and for the second week in a row, it was sophomore Samariae Bonds rewriting the record book, coming up with a first-place mark of 16.59 meters, which would have ranked 13th in the nation entering this weekend’s action.
UTRGV also broke the men’s distance medley relay record, as a team that included four South Texans, including three Rio Grande Valley natives, won the race with a time of 10:09.31. The team was made up of senior La Joya alum Ricardo Mendoza, sophomore Eagle Pass Winn alum Mariano Hernandez, sophomore Brownsville Veterans Memorial alum Max Carmona, and sophomore Edinburg North alum Tristan Pena.
UTRGV recorded two of the top nine men’s shot puts in program history, with senior Paul May finishing third with a distance of 17.25 meters, ranking third, and senior PSJA Memorial alum Michael Gonzalez placing ninth with a mark of 15.62 meters, ranking ninth.
Junior Baffour Kyem recorded the third-best triple jump in program history with a distance of 14.52 meters.
Sophomore Elizabeth Ortiz recorded the third-best point total in the pentathlon in program history with 3,068.
Sophomore Abraham Chirchir recorded the fifth-best 3,000-meter run in program history, finishing third with a time of 8:26.64.
Freshman Mystique Brown posted the sixth-best 200-meter dash in program history with a time of 24.85.
UTRGV is back in action on Feb. 14 at Houston’s Howie Ryan Invitational and Feb. 14-15 at Boston University’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational.
UTRGV Results
Pentathlon
Point Totals
10. Elizabeth Ortiz, 3,068 points
•Third-best in program history
60-Meter Hurdles
10. Elizabeth Ortiz, 9.40 (828 points)
High Jump
13. Elizabeth Ortiz, 1.38m (491 points)
Shot Put
9. Elizabeth Ortiz, 10.13m (538 points)
Long Jump
11. Elizabeth Ortiz, 5.06m (576 points)
800-Meter Run
6. Elizabeth Ortiz, 2:34.68 (635 points)
Field Events
Women’s Shot Put
1. Samariae Bonds, 16.59m
•Program record
5. Alexandrea Hurst, 13.83m
17. Taylar Kregness, 11.93m
Women’s Triple Jump
17. Zarrey Sams, 11.11m
24. Lisa Sanchez, 10.32m
26. Jovanni Solis, 10.24m
Men’s High Jump
4. Mauricio Campos, 1.95m
10. Anthony Magallon, 1.85m
Men’s Shot Put
3. Paul May, 17.25m
•Third-best in program history
9. Michael Gonzalez, 15.62m
•Ninth-best in program history
20. Aaron Williams, 14.06m
Men’s Triple Jump Invitational
14. Baffour Kyem, 14.52m
•Third-best in program history
Track Events
Men’s 5000-Meter Run
2. Juan Manzano, 15:22.78
Women’s 200-Meter Dash
14. Mystique Brown, 24.85
•Sixth-best in program history
27. Idatonye Cheetham-West, 25.21
67. Zarrey Sams, 27.48
Men’s 200-Meter Dash
36. Ackeem Gordon, 22.56
Men’s Distance Medley Relay
1. Ricardo Mendoza, Mariano Hernandez, Max Carmona, Tristan Pena, 10:09.31
•Program record
Women’s 3000-Meter Run
19. Sierra Spinler, 10:33.69
26. Alma Villanueva, 10:46.86
28. Anahi Romo, 10:47.66
41. Sharon Koima, 11:03.38
Men’s 3000-Meter Run
3. Abraham Chirchir, 8:26.64
•Fifth-best in program history
35. Edward Ramos, 9:22.06
Women’s 4×400-Meter Relay
17. Diamond Lilly, Kyra Keurentjes, Devon Goodwin, Elizabeth Ortiz, 3:57.01
28. Lisa Sanchez, Jovanni Solis, Lauryn Asiedu, Uxia Pereira, 4:13.98
Men’s 4×400-Meter Relay
16. Roel Renteria, Miguel Escamilla, Matthew Salaiz, Sean Skaugen, 3:25.33
 track & field teams broke two program records to close out the Houston G5 & Super 22 Invitational on Saturday at Yeoman Fieldhouse.){kind=link}