Racing Royalty: Burkhart shines for Bucs at Track and Field Invitational

The ETSU women’s track and field team set off to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to compete at the Camel City Invitational over the weekend, and the results did not disappoint.

The two-day event began with track, which saw ETSU senior, Hannah Burkhart (Knoxville, Tenn.) racing to a royal first finish among other college competitors in the 600m, crossing the line at 1:37.00, just a hair off her personal best at 1:36.74. Overall, Burkhart finished second in the track competition.  

Moving on to field action of the first day, ETSU junior superstar Diana Romero-Barba (Tepatitlan de Morelos, Jalisco, Mexico) continued her season best winning ways. Romero-Barba finished third in the pole vault, marking at 3.65m, an improvement from the last mark at 3.51m set earlier in the season at the VMI Team Challenge.

On the second day of action saw the blue and gold track stars give it their all once again. Queen-Bee, Hannah Burkhart would once again continue her impressive weekend. Burkhart crossed the line in the 800-meter group with a time of 2:19.17, placing fifth, which was enough to capture her second top-five finish of the meet.

Other standouts included sophomore Meg Lance (Woodstock, Ga.) and junior Ansley Archuleta (Fort Mill, S.C.), crossing the line at 2:21.49 and 2:21.67, respectively. The pair would finish eighth and ninth overall.  

The ETSU women’s track and field team would also see senior Rebekah Howard (Ashland, Ky.) adding a strong top five finish in the mile run competition. With a time of 5:09.41, which is a season high best for Howard.  

In the field, the Bucs would finish strong as junior Tya Blake (Lynchburg, Va.) would produce a top finish for the traveling Bucs. 26 Competitors would come in chasing the crown, with Blake finishing sixth in the triple jump event. In addition to the top ten finish, Blake would capitalize on her only legal mark of the event with another season best occurrence at 11.26 meters.  

As the weekend ended, the Camel City Invitational would bring a lot of success and motivation to the ETSU women’s track and field team. The Bucs will return to action on Feb. 9, when traveling to Liberty University for the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational.  

For more information on ETSU Track and Field, visit ETSUBucs.com.