COLLEGE STATION — Elesha Alyn won the triple jump to pace the UTSA women's track & field team at Saturday's season-opening Texas A&M Team Invitational.
After fouling on her first two attempts, Alyn skipped to a personal-best measurement of 40-7 (12.37m) on her third jump of the afternoon to top the field of eight athletes. The senior from Miami, Fla., captured the gold medal by five inches over Baylor's Rachel Toliver and it was an improvement of a foot and two inches from her previous career best. She currently sits on top of the Conference USA leaderboard in the early going this season.
The Roadrunners' other podium finish of the day came from Gabriyella Torres, who tied for third place in high jump with a clearance of 5-6 ½ (1.69m). Texas State's Chelsie Decoud won the event with a leap of 5-8 ½ (1.74m).
Meanwhile, four other athletes registered personal records.
Cierra Peña posted a fifth-place effort in the long jump after breaking the sand in a career-best 17-11 ½ (5.47m).
N'Dia Warren-Jacques posted the fourth-best performance in program history with her measurement of 45-4 ¼ (13.82m) en route to sixth place in the shot put, while Shalise Borden registered a personal-record toss of 54-0 (16.46m) in the weight throw, which also was good for sixth place.
On the track, Paige Patterson clocked a career-best time of 56.10 in a sixth-place performance in the 400 meters.
"I was proud of how we performed today," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox said. "It was a great way to open up our season. Many people had personal bests and that is a great way to start the year. I was extremely proud of the Roadrunners today."
UTSA racked up 39.5 points en route to placing fifth in the field of eight teams. Meet host Texas A&M easily won the team title with 168.5 points, while Baylor (128) and Texas (113) rounded out the top three.
The Roadrunners will return to College Station next Saturday, Jan. 21, for the Texas A&M Aggies Invitational.
