Freshman Brooke Townzen set UTSA's pole vault record on Friday.
HOUSTON — Freshman Brooke Townzen broke the school record in the pole vault and senior Jessica Jones and freshman Katie Bragg posted runner-up finishes to guide the UTSA women’s track & field team to fourth place Friday at the Leonard Hilton Memorial.
Townzen cleared 11-1 ¾ (3.40m) to break Lindsey Nguyen’s one-year-old school standard (10-9 ¾/3.30m) in the pole vault and finish fifth overall in the field of 18 vaulters.
Jones skimmed the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.64 to finish second overall and first among collegiate competitors. Seun Adigun won in a time of 8.45.
Meanwhile, Bragg joined Townzen with a memorable debut, placing second in the 20-pound weight throw with a measure of 51-11 ¼ (15.83m). That performance ranks her second on the school’s all-time performers list and is just shy of Natasha Ramos’ school-record toss (52-0 ¾/15.87m) from 2006.
"I couldn't have asked for a better start to the season," head coach Aaron Fox said after the meet. "We had some really good performances, two of which came from true freshmen. Brooke breaking a school record in her first collegiate meet was outstanding and Katie came up just short of setting a record of her own. We just need carry the momentum from tonight into next weekend at Tech and throughout the rest of the season."
The Roadrunners tallied 53 points for fourth place in the 16-team field. Rice won with 127, followed by Houston (99) and Texas (74.5).
Bragg’s effort was part of a strong showing by UTSA in the weight throw, as freshman Jaimee Bennett was fourth with a 49-5 ¾ measure and sophomore Taelor Wilson was sixth with a 47-11 ¾ mark.
In other action, freshman Eboni Johnson skipped to a third-place mark of 39-3 ¼ in the triple jump, moving her into the No. 2 spot on the Roadrunners' all-time performer list. Junior Shavonne Armbrister circled the track twice in 58.49 for a fourth-place finish in the 400m. Sophomore Kayla Pratt took seventh overall and fifth among collegians in the mile with a 5:09.43 clocking, while freshman Stacia Newton was seventh in the shot put with a 42-4 ¾ performance.
The Roadrunners return to the track next Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23, when they travel to Lubbock for the Texas Tech Invitational.