LUBBOCK — Freshman Jhorden Hunter's strong start to her inaugural campaign continued at Saturday's final session of the Texas Tech Invitational, as she clocked the second-fastest 55 meters time in UTSA women's track & field history, 6.97, en route to a third-place finish.
The Missouri City native qualified for the final with the fourth-quickest preliminary time of the day, 7.05, and that put her fourth on the program's all-time performers chart. She topped that mark two hours later after crossing the line 15 hundredths of a second behind winner Jura Levy (South Plains JC/6.82) and seven ticks back of runner-up Terra Evans (Texas Tech/6.90). Her career-best performance came a day after speeding to a 24.67 (t-No. 4 UTSA all-time performers list) in the 200m, which was good for second place in the field of 73 sprinters.
Meanwhile, freshman Rachel Stewart was victorious in the B section of the pole vault with her clearance of 10-2 (3.10m). A native of The Woodlands, she was the only vaulter to clear the bar and the mark matched her season-opening measurement, which ranks fourth on the Roadrunners' all-time performers chart.
Freshman Isabel Balbontin recorded UTSA's other top-three finish, as she earned a bronze medal in the 3,000m. The Katy native stopped the clock in 10:45.08 in her first collegiate attempt at the distance.
Other top performances included fourth-place efforts by freshman Nina Herrera in the mile (5:06.40) and sophomore Eboni Johnson in the triple jump (38-9 ¾/11.83m).
UTSA is back in action next weekend at the Houston Invitational/Multis. The two-day meet gets underway on Friday, Jan. 28, at Bill Yeoman Fieldhouse.
