Antonia Sánchez Núñez

Born: October 31, 2003  |  Hometown: Mexico City, Mexico  |  Event: 400m Hurdles / 400m  |  College: University of Miami (transfer from University of Arizona)  |  Class: Junior (2025–26)  |  High School: IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida

From Mexico City to the American Track Circuit

Antonia Sánchez Núñez was born on October 31, 2003, in Mexico City — one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas and home to a rich athletics tradition that has produced Olympic medalists and Pan American champions across multiple generations. Growing up in the capital gave her exposure to elite sport from an early age, and the speed she showed as a young athlete put her on a path that would eventually carry her from the streets of CDMX all the way to IMG Academy in Florida, to a Pac-12 podium, to the top step of the Junior Pan American Games podium.

She is part of a new generation of Mexican track and field athletes navigating the American college system, using the resources and competitive depth of NCAA Division I to accelerate their development while continuing to represent the national team with distinction. In that dual mission, Sánchez Núñez has become one of Mexico’s most exciting young prospects in the 400-meter hurdles.

The IMG Academy Years: Building a Foundation

Before arriving in collegiate athletics, Sánchez Núñez attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida — one of the world’s most well-regarded multi-sport development institutions, which has become a major pipeline for international athletes seeking exposure to American track and field training systems. The choice to pursue her high school athletics career at IMG placed her in a demanding training environment from the outset, with access to high-level coaching, facilities, and competition opportunities that would accelerate her development considerably.

Her TFRRS record confirms her class of 2022 from IMG Academy, meaning she graduated and entered college athletics at 18 years old — already having built a competitive base in the hurdles and sprint events that would serve her throughout her NCAA career.

University of Arizona: A Pac-12 Revelation

Sánchez Núñez enrolled at the University of Arizona in Tucson in the fall of 2022, joining one of the Southwest’s most storied track and field programs under head coach Fred Harvey. The Wildcats had a long tradition of producing elite hurdlers, and she was quickly identified as someone who fit that lineage.

Her freshman year (2022–23 academic year) was an outdoor-only competitive season at the collegiate level. She opened her Wildcat career with a win in the 400m hurdles at the Encuentro Selective FMAA meet with a personal best of 58.43 seconds, also clocking 25.11 in the 200m and 55.39 in the 400m flat at the Willie Williams Classic. She placed 10th in the 400m hurdles at the Pac-12 Championships and competed at the NCAA West First Round. The numbers told the story of a talented freshman still finding her footing, but showing the raw speed and hurdle potential that would develop quickly. Academically, she earned recognition on the 2023 USTFCCCA Women’s All-Academic Team, establishing from the start that she was serious about both dimensions of her student-athlete career.

Sophomore year (2023–24) was when things began to click. In the indoor season, she ran a personal best 54.77 in the 400m at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic and posted a 600m personal best of 1:32.55. The outdoor season saw her emerge as a legitimate Pac-12 contender: she won the 400m hurdles at both the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta and the Willie Williams Classic, placed runner-up at the Jim Click Shootout, and then produced her most significant result to that point by finishing third in the 400m hurdles at the Pac-12 Championships in a personal best 56.50 — ranking fifth all-time in Arizona history in that event. As one reporter covering Arizona athletics noted at the time, the performance was “one of the fastest times” by a Mexican woman in the event, and that she “was peaking at the right time of the year.” She narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships, finishing 13th at the West First Round. She then capped her year with gold at the CONADE 2024 National Championships in Mexico, breaking the Mexican meet record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 56.82 — a clear sign that her collegiate development and national team ambitions were advancing in lockstep.

In the lead-up to the Pac-12 Championships that spring, coaches tinkered with her technique — switching her from 16 to 15 steps between the early hurdles, an adjustment they had been waiting to introduce until her strength and endurance had developed to support it. The 56.50 result validated that patient approach.

Junior Year at Arizona: A Banner Season on Two Fronts

The 2024–25 season was Sánchez Núñez’s most complete to date. In the indoor season, she ran a 53.16 in the prelims of the 400m at the Big 12 Indoor Championships — a new personal best and a sign that her flat-quarter speed was developing to match her hurdles ability. She finished eighth in the final and was a member of the 4x400m relay that finished third at the Big 12 Indoor Championships with a season-best time of 3:34.85.

The outdoor season that followed was exceptional. She dominated her heat at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Lawrence, Kansas, winning by a wide margin in 56.53 to advance to the final. She qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships as part of Arizona’s 4x400m relay (Ava Simms, Keilee Hall, Camila Aguilar-Perez, and Sánchez Núñez), which finished sixth in the final and ran 3:32.56 — the sixth-fastest time in program history. She also qualified individually for the NCAA West First Round in the 400m hurdles, where she placed 14th with a time of 57.41.

Then came August. At the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay, representing Mexico, Antonia Sánchez Núñez produced the defining performance of her career to that point. In the women’s 400m hurdles final held at the Parque Olímpico Pista De Atletismo in Luque, she ran 55.91 seconds — shattering the Junior Pan American Games record of 55.97 set by Brazil’s Chayenne da Silva in 2021. Gold. Pan American Junior champion. A record that had stood for four years, erased in a single race. The silver medalist, from the U.S. Virgin Islands, finished more than a half-second back in 56.61. Three days later, Sánchez Núñez ran another leg of Mexico’s 4x400m relay in Asunción, contributing to a national relay time of 3:31.95.

Her 55.91 also stands as the Mexican Under-23 record in the event — a mark she notes prominently in her own public biography. As of her World Athletics profile, she is ranked 79th in the world in the women’s 400m hurdles — a remarkable standing for a 21-year-old still in her junior year of college.

The Transfer to Miami: A New Chapter

Following her standout junior year at Arizona, Sánchez Núñez entered the NCAA transfer portal. A significant coaching transition was underway in Tucson — Arizona’s sprints coach, Francesca Green, departed for the University of Texas at El Paso, and several key athletes from Arizona’s sprint and hurdles groups moved on. Sánchez Núñez chose to transfer to the University of Miami, joining the Hurricanes for her senior year (2025–26) and entering the ACC competitive landscape. The Miami program has a strong tradition in track and field and competes in one of the sport’s most competitive conferences.

Her Miami bio lists her as a junior — reflecting the standard counting of her eligibility — and notes her personal bests of 55.91 in the 400m hurdles and 53.16 in the 400m, her 2025 Pan American Junior 400m hurdles championship, and her status as a three-time NCAA West Regional qualifier. She brought genuine international credentials and proven conference-level performance with her to Coral Gables.

International Career: Representing Mexico

Sánchez Núñez’s international trajectory has developed steadily alongside her collegiate career. In 2023, as a freshman, she competed at the Encuentro Selective FMAA — the Mexican Athletics Federation’s selection meet — and logged her first internationally documented hurdles personal best of 58.43. By 2024, she was winning the CONADE National Championship and breaking the national meet record. In 2025, she stood on the highest step of the Junior Pan American Games podium.

Her World Athletics profile shows she also holds strong marks in the 400m flat (53.16, indoor), 4x400m relay (3:31.95, outdoor), and 4x400m relay indoor (3:34.85). The breadth of those results underscores what coaches have always seen in her: she is not a narrow specialist but a genuinely strong 400-meter runner who adds hurdle technique on top of serious flat-quarter ability.

World Athletics currently ranks her 79th in the world in the 400m hurdles. For a 22-year-old who has yet to begin the peak years of her career, that ranking suggests serious potential.

The Athlete Behind the Numbers

Sánchez Núñez is a Mexico City native who has spent her competitive career abroad — first at IMG Academy in Florida, then in Tucson and now in Miami — but who has kept her connection to home and to Mexican athletics central to her identity. She competes for Mexico on the international stage with a pride that comes through clearly in how she discusses her career, and her social media presence — where she identifies herself as “mia / cdmx” (Miami and Mexico City simultaneously) — reflects someone navigating two worlds with confidence.

On the academic side, she has taken her student-athlete commitments seriously. The 2023 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honor in her freshman year is not a rubber stamp — it requires maintaining a strong GPA and academic progress, and earning it while establishing herself as a Pac-12-caliber athlete speaks to her discipline and organization.

Her 58,000-plus Instagram followers suggest that her profile in Mexico has grown considerably alongside her athletic results. A Junior Pan American Games record in the most high-profile individual hurdles event in the Americas does that. The collaboration email listed on her profile (an************@***il.com) signals she has become a recognizable figure in Mexican sports marketing circles. A Facebook partnership noted in relation to “Natural Originals” indicates she has worked with at least one commercial sponsor, though the full scope of her sponsorship portfolio is not publicly detailed.

Personal Bests

• 400 Metres Hurdles: 55.91 (August 20, 2025 — Junior Pan American Games, Asunción, Paraguay) — Junior Pan American Games record; Mexican U23 record
• 400 Metres (indoor): 53.16 (February 28, 2025 — Big 12 Indoor Championships, Lubbock, TX)
• 4x400m Relay: 3:31.95 (August 22, 2025 — Asunción, Paraguay)
• 4x400m Relay (indoor): 3:34.85 (March 1, 2025 — Lubbock, TX)
• 200 Metres: 25.11 (2023)

Career Highlights

• 2025 Junior Pan American Games 400m Hurdles Champion (record: 55.91)
• Mexican Under-23 Record, 400m Hurdles (55.91)
• 2024 CONADE National Champion, 400m Hurdles (56.82, breaking Mexican meet record)
• 2024 Pac-12 Championships bronze medalist, 400m Hurdles (56.50 — 5th all-time, Arizona)
• 3x NCAA West Regional Qualifier
• 2025 Big 12 Indoor Championships: 8th (400m), 3rd (4x400m relay)
• 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier (4x400m relay, 6th-place finish)
• World Athletics ranking: #79 (400m hurdles)
• 2023 USTFCCCA Women’s All-Academic Team
• 1x National Champion (Mexico, listed on World Athletics profile)

Social Media

Antonia Sánchez Núñez is active on Instagram at @antonia.sanchezn, where she identifies as a Miami-based CDMX native, University of Miami 400m hurdler, 2025 Junior Pan American Games champion, and Mexican Under-23 record holder. She lists a collaboration contact at an************@***il.com for brand and sponsorship inquiries.

Antonia Sánchez Núñez is a Mexican 400m hurdler born October 31, 2003, in Mexico City. She is currently competing as a senior (junior by eligibility) for the University of Miami Hurricanes after transferring from the University of Arizona. She is the reigning Junior Pan American Games 400m hurdles champion and holds the Mexican Under-23 record in that event with 55.91 seconds.