For Immediate Release: Saturday, March 8, 2003
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

KEATING BREAKS RECORD, UTPA DOES WELL AT JAVELINA RELAYS

KINGSVILLE, TX-Another school record fell and The University of Texas-Pan American's track and field team posted 17 personal bests as they concluded the regular season indoors and opened the outdoor season Saturday.

Sophomore Westly Keating (Pharr, TX/PSJA North HS/Texas) broke the school record for 3000 meters, finishing third in 8:16.82 at the Cyclone National Track and Field Qualifier at the Lied Recreational Facility at Iowa State University.

Meanwhile, Texas-Pan American did well at the Javelina Relays at Texas A&M-Kingsville, at which no team scores were recorded.

Freshman Aaron Castro (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial HS) was second at 200 meters in a personal best time of 4:06.77, and fourth at 800 meters in 1:56.43. Sophomore Francisco Bouret (Brownsville, TX/Pace HS) was third at 800 meters in the same time, 1:56.43, for a personal record.

For the Broncs, personal bests were also achieved by sophomore Jeff Martzall (Ft. Wayne, IN/Northrop HS), who won the pole vault at 15 feet, 10 inches, junior Rashaad Ben (Austin, TX/Lanier HS), third in the hurdles in 14:58, sophomore Marlin Manley (Hampton, VA/Bethel HS), second in the high jump at 6-8, senior Robert Lopez (Mission, TX/Mission HS/UTEP), who won the hammer throw at 171 feet, three inches, junior J.C. Crosby (Pharr, TX/PSJA HS), third in the hammer at 131-3, and sophomores David Ramirez (Mission, TX/Waelder HS) and Americo Ortiz (Wortham,. TX/Wortham HS), who posted personal best times at 5000 meters. Crosby was sixth in the shot put at 49 feet, five inches.

Lady Bronc personal bests included those by freshman Margeaux McCarthy (Pharr, TX/PSJA North HS), who ran the 800 meters in 2:16.83, sophomore Deneb DeLuna (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS), who was first in the shot put at 44-10, second in the discus at 145-4 and third in the hammer throw at 142-0, sophomore Rowena Hamlet (Mississauga, ON/Lorne Park SS), who ran the 400 meter hurdles in 65.05 seconds, freshman Deanah Chavez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HS), who was sixth at 1500 meters in 5:01.51, junior Patty Villarreal (San Juan, TX/PSJA HS), third at 5000 meters, and sophomore Angela Billups Weslaco, TX/Mercedes HS), who had a personal best in the 400 meter hurdles. Senior Rachel Drury (Moscow, ID/Moscow HS) was third in the pole vault at 9-6, Amy Torvik ran the 800 meters in 2:19.26, and the 4 X 400 meter relay team was third in 3:59.03.

"After he ran the 5000 at Notre Dame yesterday, Westly wanted to get in one more meet indoors, so we came to Iowa State and ran today," said UTPA Assistant Coach Doug Molnar, who accompanied Keating. "For him to come back and break a school record is pretty impressive."

"For the first meet of the year, we were really solid," said UTPA Head Coach Ricky Vaughn. "We wanted to see where we are before we start going to the tougher meets on our schedule. We had 17 PRs, and that's pretty incredible for the first meet. Several of our people just missed qualifying for the NCAA Regionals. Amy Torvik finished second the first time she ever ran the 800, and that's incredible, while Deneb DeLuna really stood out today. Robert had a very good performance as well. For the first meet, we did better than I expected, and it shows how hard we've worked. Running against tougher competition indoors is really paying off."

Junior Amy Moses (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North HS) will compete at the NCAAs next Saturday afternoon at the University of Arkansas. The Broncs and Lady Broncs will continue their outdoor season March 21st at 22nd at the Whataburger Invitational at Texas-San Antonio.

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