BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UTA men's track and field program is two-thirds of its way to a third Sun Belt Conference "Triple Crown" after the Mavericks claimed the SBC Indoor Championship on Tuesday. UTA entered the final race with a six-point lead before icing it with a convincing victory in the 4x400-meter relay.
It was the Maverick's third indoor victory in six seasons in the Sun Belt, with the other three finishes being runner-up showings. In addition, it is the 11th all-time league indoor title for the men and the 33rd overall conference crown for head coach John Sauerhage across his men's and women's programs.
UTA finished with 130 points to upend Arkansas State (119.5) and Texas State (119), who were both mathematically in contention in the final race.
"It was a heroic team effort," Sauerhage said. "Every time we had a mishap, the next person stepped up in a big way. Our seniors were huge at this meet, and we are so happy for them and the entire team."
Senior Erik Martinsson led the way, winning individual crowns in the 400 meters (47.69) and 800 meters (1:54.05) in an impressive double. He also was a member of the clinching relay squad, as his third leg of the race gave the Mavericks a lead they would not relinquish. For the meet, he was the second highest point scorer on the men's side with 22.5 points.
Justin Domangue, who was second in the 3000m on Monday night, claimed a second-place showing in the 5000m (14:43.56) and was third in the mile (4:19.03) on Tuesday. He totaled 22 points for UTA, the third-most by an individual at the meet.
Meanwhile, Deontre Haynes finished second in the 60 meters and 200 meters, coming in .01 off the winning time in both events. His first photo finish ended in a 6.77 time in the 60m and his 200m clocking was 21.42. His 16 points gave the Mavericks three of the top five individual point scorers.
Victor Fincher also was .01 off a Sun Belt-winning time in the 60m hurdles. With a time of 8.08, he was narrowly edged at the line.
Demarviae Gray (4th, 21.81) and D'Undre Mitchell (6th, 21.84) joined Haynes in the scoring column in the 200m. Additionally, Isaiah McBride took fourth in the 60 meters (6.83), as the top four spots were separated by just .07.
In addition to Martinsson's win in the 400m, two other Mavericks finished in the top five with Brenden Wallace taking third (48.06) and Mitchell crossing fifth (48.88). The 4x400 relay squad, which consisted of Mitchell, Lucas Van Klaveren, Martinsson and Wallace, had a winning time of 3:15.63.
Individually, Van Klaveren snagged fourth place in the men's heptathlon. He finished with 5,029 points, which was just 21 shy of fifth place on the all-time school list. His highest-scoring event was the 60m hurdles (823), which helped him climb two spots in the standings on the final day.
The women had an impressive final day in the field, and the young relay team also closed with a flurry, grabbing a place on the podium. As a result, the Mavericks finished in sixth place of out 12 teams with 58 points.
Juleen Lewis made the medal stand in the triple jump as the event's runner up. Her best mark of 40-10 1/4 (12.45m) was just ¼ of an inch shy of first place. It is the fifth-best jump in school history.
Meanwhile, freshman Abigail Kelly-Salo mirrored that effort in the pole vault. She was second in the event with a personal-best clearance of 12-2 ¾, which also entered her into fifth place on the school's all-time list.
Alexus Henry claimed fifth in the women's pentathlon (3,617) to go along with her league crown in the high jump achieved Monday. In the finals of the women's 60 meters, Trishawna Crawford nailed down fifth place (7.62), while Erica Cormier-Jordan took seventh (7.67).
The Mavericks quartet of Brianna McClure, Tatyana Terrell, Mikayla Koester and Vanessa Ugorji had a strong final run, placing third in 3:50.22. The group consists of one senior, one sophomore and two freshmen.
Other point scorers for the men on Tuesday included Connor Butterfield in the men's mile (4th, 4:19.08), Darius Prescott in the men's triple jump (4th, 48-4 ¾) and Cole Klashinsky in the men's 5000m (6th, 14:47.66).
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