? Day 1 results
? Heptathlon results: Total | By event
? Photo gallery
| Sophomores Jessica Jones (left) and Dana Mecke were victorious in the 400-meter hurdles and 800 meters, respectively, on Friday. | |
SAN ANTONIO ? Sophomores Jessica Jones and Dana Mecke and the 4x200-meter relay team all grabbed gold to lead the UTSA women’s track & field team’s day-one effort at the UTSA Relays on Friday at Blossom Stadium.
Jones clocked a 1:02.72 for top honors in the 400m hurdles, beating out a quintet of Texas State hurdlers to win her third race in as many weeks. Jones also posted the second-fastest qualifying time in the 100m hurdles, a wind-aided 14.44.
Mecke won her first outdoor 800m race of the season, circling twice in a personal-best of 2:14.99. The Southland Conference Indoor champion at this distance won the 1,500m last week and led a trio of Roadrunners in the top four places, as freshmen Kim Brooks and Jayde James finished third (2:16.73) and fourth (2:17.33), respectively.
The 4x200m relay team also cruised to victory on Friday, passing the baton in a time of 1:40.08 to run their UTSA Relays winning streak to three years.
In the field, UTSA showed well in the high and long jumps. Junior Rikki Gray cleared 5-3 ? for runner-up honors in the high jump, while freshman Jaclyn Bobmanuel and sophomore Natalie Squier topped 5-1 ? to place fourth and fifth, respectively.
Senior Brittany Epps leaped to a 19-1 ? measure for second place in the long jump, while junior Shanelle Slaughter took third with an 18-9 mark. Freshman Kayla Thomas was fourth with a jump of 18-8 ?.
In preliminary action, UTSA pushed three runners through to the 100m final, as Slaughter (12.12), Epps (12.25) and Thomas (12.35) all stayed alive. Freshman Aimee Jonas is in fifth place with 2,664 points after day one of the heptathlon, a tight race which is led by Valerie Hancock of Texas State (2,801).
In other action, a pair of former Roadrunner standouts performed well. Olympian Liza Hunter-Galvan won the 3,000m in 9:51.50, while four-time All-American and current volunteer assistant coach Ryanne Dupree cruised to the top qualifier in the 100m hurdles (13.63).
Day two of the UTSA Relays gets underway at 9 a.m. Head coach James Blackwood, who announced Thursday his retirement following this season, will be honored during the Opening Ceremony at 12:40 p.m.