Former UTSA Track Standout Liza Hunter-Galvan To Compete In Olympics Marathon
SAN ANTONIO, Texas ? Former UTSA women’s track and field standout Liza Hunter-Galvan is set to represent her native country of New Zealand in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games when she competes in the women’s marathon this weekend in Beijing, China. The race is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. China time on Sunday, Aug. 17, which will be 6:30 p.m. Central on Saturday, and portions of the marathon will be televised live on NBC’s family of networks.
It marks the second straight Olympics appearance for the San Antonio resident, who finished 51st in the same event at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece. Last October, Hunter-Galvan met the Olympics “A” qualifying standard of 2:37:00 with a personal-best time of 2:30:40 at the Amsterdam Marathon. However, earlier this year Hunter-Galvan was denied a spot on New Zealand’s Olympic team by the nation’s governing body for track and field, Athletics New Zealand (ANZ). After a well-publicized battle, ANZ added her to the squad in late June.
Hunter-Galvan was a four-year letter winner in cross country and track and field at UTSA from 1989-93. She was the Southland Conference champion in the mile and two-mile runs at the 1992 SLC Indoor, the first year UTSA competed for conference championships in the sport. Hunter-Galvan also helped the two-mile relay to a league crown and was named Outstanding Track Performer, Athlete of the Year and High Point Scorer (22.5) for her efforts. In cross country, Hunter-Galvan won the 1992 conference title and was named Athlete of the Year, helping the Roadrunners to their second straight team championship.
The Olympics marathon course begins at Tiananmen Square and will take the runners through the streets of Beijing before finishing in the National Stadium. For complete online coverage, please visit http://www.nbcolympics.com/.