NORMAN, OKLAHOMA – Saturday afternoon proved huge for UT Tyler as both programs put together strong efforts to book their best finishes in the LSC Indoor Championships in program history.
 
Saturday's women's effort began over in the high jump, where the Patriots put together one of their best events of the weekend. Meelika Toom began the efforts as she added one point to the Patriots team tally with an eighth place finish in a height of 1.57 meters.
 
Following her efforts was Aerin Thompson, who cleared 1.62 meters in her second attempt to ensure a third place finish and six points for the Patriots.
 
That cleared the stage for Juliane Frueh, who stole the show and picked up another Patriots event victory as she was the only athlete to clear 1.67 meters on the day. That height ensured 10 points for the Patriots and earned them 17 for the event alone.
 
The final field event of the day for the Patriots women came with the shot put, as Brooklyn House launched herself all the way up to fourth place in the event with a throw of 13.39 meters. That mark came on her fifth throw of the competition, and established a new school record in the event for the Patriots. That throw also locked up five key points as the Patriots continued their pursuit to the top of the standings.
 
Isabel Jakobsen would tack on another point for the Patriots team, as she placed eighth in the women's 60 meter hurdles in a time of 9.13 seconds.
 
After Thompson's efforts in the high jump, she made her way over to the track, where she quickly tacked on to her point total for the day by adding on three points in the women's 400 meters in a time of 55.45.
 
Just an hour later, Thompson was back to work, this time in the women's 200 meters. She fared even better, picking up six more points in a time of 24.76 seconds to finish third overall.
 
In-between the efforts of Thompson on the track, Calista Segura took her chance to shine in the women's 800 meters. Segura wasted no time in ensuring another bigtime Patriots effort, as she placed third overall in a time of 2:16.87 for six more points for the Patriots.
 
The final points from the Patriots were quite possibly their biggest, as the women's 4x400 relay team of Thompson, Frueh, Kamaria Carr, and Jasmine Haywood combined for a second place finish and eight crucial points. In the event, the quartet combined in a time of 3:48.78, finishing just one thousandth of a second behind Lubbock Christian for the top spot.
 
For the weekend, the Patriots scored 75 total points, finishing 51 points clear of Texas A&M-Kingsville for the third spot on the grid and locking up their best finish in the LSC Indoor Championships in program history.
 
Over on the men's side, their point scoring efforts began with the men's triple jump. MThabisi Mpofu picked up another point for the Patriots as he finished eighth overall in a distance of 11.84 meters.
 
In the first running event of the day for the men's program, David Soto set the pace as he delivered a huge event victory in the men's mile. He ran a time of 4:11.91 to lock up the top spot by nearly half a second and 10 points for the Patriots.
 
Joining Soto in the event was Aaron Smith, who tacked on another two points after placing seventh overall in a time of 4:24.35.
 
That great start continued on in the men's 60 meter hurdles, where the Patriots added 11 more points to their total. Brandon Arenas placed fourth overall in a time of 8.13 seconds, and was just eclipsed by the efforts of Ashton Turner, who ran a time of 8.07 seconds to place third.
 
Just minutes later, Turner would tack on another pair of points for the Patriots as he finished up the 400 meters in a time of 49.87 and place seventh overall.
 
In the men's edition of the 3,000 meters, the Patriots added another five points as both Jacob Berryhill and Soto would wrap up top eight finishes. Berryhill finished eighth overall in a time of 8:43.21, while Soto finished fifth in a time of 8:31.88.
 
In the final event of the day for the Patriots, the combination of Nicholas Davis, Jackson Crysup, Tsegaya Fazarro, and Jeremiah Evans put together a time of 3:24.38 in the 4x400 meter relay to add on five final points to their total.
 
The Patriots scored 54 points over the championships on their way to a fifth place finish, their best in the Lone Star Conference.