Edinburg, Texas - Texas-Pan American had a strong showing hosting the Angela Procter Invitational today. UTPA had three athletes qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships to be held in May. Hitting qualifying marks were Rashaad Ben (Sr./Austin, Texas/Sidney Lanier HS) in the 110M Hurdles, Amy Moses (Sr./Edinburg, Texas/Edinburg North HS) in the Hammer and Isaac Ybarra (Jr./Mission, Texas/Sharyland HS) in the Hammer.
"We had a very strong meet." Said head coach Ricky Vaughn. "Anytime you can get three regional qualifying marks this early in the season is great. We had a very strong meet overall. Deneb DeLuna (Jr./Mission, Texas/Sharyland HS) and Amber Kelly (Fr./Houston, Texas/J.F. Dobie HS) threw well in the shot put and are in good position to qualify. Rowena Hamlet (So./Mississaugua, Ontario, Canada/Lorne Park Secondary School) was just off her school record. Hugo Cervantes (Sr./Weslaco, Texas/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) had a very strong Steeplechase."
Texas-Pan American heads to San Antonio for the Whataburger/UTSA Relays, March 19-20.
MEN
The Broncs won six events, had five additions to the top 10 list, broke a school record and tied a school record. Ybarra had a monster throw of 193-9 to win the Hammer. His toss broke the school record by over 14 feet and shattered the meet record by 30 feet. Ben carried over his success from the indoor season as he tied his own school record winning the 110M Hurdles in 14.17.
Beto Alvarado (Fr./Weslaco, Texas/Weslaco HS) was a double winner taking the 800 and 1500M runs. Cervantes ran 9:30.50 to set the meet record in the 3000M Steeplechase. That was the 7th fastest time in school history. Jeff Martzall (Jr./Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop HS) cleared 15-5.75 to win the Pole Vault for the third straight year. Additional Top 10 UTPA performances are listed below.
800M
2. Hugo Cervantes (2:00.97)
3000
2. Benito Maldonaldo (9:20.86) 10th Fastest time in UTPA history
4. Americo Ortiz (9:35.75)
5. Jason Tejada (9:53.06)
Javelin
2. Matt Clinton (148-7) 10th Longest throw in UTPA history
1500
3. David Trevino (4:06.41)
High Jump
3. Marlin Manley (6-6)
100M Dash
4. David Sanchez (11.14)
6. Jesse Quintinilla (13.62)
Shot Put
4. Isaac Ybarra (52-0) 2nd longest throw in UTPA
WOMEN
Four champions, seven additions to the top 10 and two school records were the highlights for the Lady Broncs. Moses threw the Hammer 184-6 to break her own school record by over 15 feet . She also broke the meet record which she had set in 2002. Kelly was runner-up in the shot put with a toss of 44-4.75. That was the 3rd longest throw in school history and broke the UTPA freshman record.
DeLuna won the Shot Put with a meet record toss of 45-10. She missed the regional qualifying mark by 3/4th of an inch. Amy Torvik (So./Los Fresnos, Texas/Los Fresnos HS) ran 2:18.85 to win the 800 and break the meet record as well. Hamlet ran 1:02.93 to win the 400M Hurdles. That broke the meet record and was just off of her school record. Additional Top 10 UTPA performances are listed below.
2000M Steeplechase
2. Deanah Chavez (8:21.26)
Javelin
2. Clarisse Arredondo (115-3) 6th Longest in UTPA history
400M Dash
3. Jessica Ehimika (58.90) 9th Fastest in UTPA history
5. Angela Billups (1:01.40)
7. Ashley Leal (1:02.33)
100M Dash
4. Denally Flores (2:23.07)
100M Hurdles
4. Brittani Hilton (:15.99) 5th Fastest in UTPA history
3000
4. Lorraine Garcia (11:04.24)
6. Claudia Rosas (11:16.18)
7. Maria Vargas (11:23.17)
Discus
4. Stephanie Perez (135-0) 5th Longest in UTPA history
200M Dash
5. Bethany Anderson (26.19)
8. A. Leal (26.92)
9. A. Garcia (27.59)
10. B. Hilton (28.08)
Pole Vault
5. Debbie Escobar (8-0)
100M Dash
7. B. Anderson (12.66) 9th Fastest in UTPA history
1500
7. Karla Hernandez (5:09.86)