The UT Arlington track and field teams concluded the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Indoor Championships in February with several tremendous performances, including some that broke UTA and SBC records. The women finished third overall with 82 total points, while the men were fifth overall with 69 total points.
Jade Bontke, a senior kinesiology major, earned a pair of gold medals and recognition as the top scorer for the meet.
The first day of the championships started with a bang as the Mavericks took control of the multi events. Bontke dominated the pentathlon, winning four of the five events to cruise to a UTA record. She also set an SBC record with her long jump win. She added wins in the 60-meter hurdles, the high jump, and the 800 meter. The only event she didn’t earn first in was shot put, where she placed second.
Decathlete Lucas Van Klaveren pulled ahead for the men’s team, finishing with a Sun Belt and meet record of 5,734, the second-highest score all-time and good for sixth in the nation.
All-American Bryson DeBerry won his second straight SBC title in the indoor high jump, at 2.14 meters, and Abigail Kelly-Salo capped a brilliant day for field with a win in the pole vault at 3.86 meters. UTA closed the meet with a strong performance in relays, as Bontke, Shelby West, Tatyana Terrell, and Vanessa Ugorji broke the 4x400 school record with a time of 3:43.83 to earn third place.
UTA saw other great performances from Madeleine Rowe in the mile, Jarvis Miles in the 400 meter, and Jackson Cichon in the 800 meter. Iyana Gray broke a school record in the 200-meter dash with a second-place finish of 23.70.
