Local trainer makes magazine contest quarterfinals | News

Lorena Urbina-Hare, 47, fitness manager at Citizens Healthplex, was a quarterfinalist in the Ms. Health and Fitness: Muscle & Fitness HERS magazine cover competition.

Urbina-Hare won her three-person wild-card group, and as of Thursday, she advanced to the quarterfinal round of voting, which could lead to $20,000 in prize money for the purchase of her family’s first home.

Voting for the quarterfinals began on Monday, and she was fifth in the 12-man group as of Thursday afternoon.

After the start of the quarterfinals, the number of votes was reset, and Urbina-Hale’s ranking in the quarterfinals has fluctuated since the start of this round.

“I’m still excited,” she said. “I was a little worried about having to play in the wild card game, but we got through.”

Healthplex shared that excitement as it updated her flyers around the facility with the Quarterfinalists hashtag. Urbina-Hare also ramped up her campaign by reaching out to Citizens Medical Center’s public relations department to see if they could help further.

“I’ve had such amazing feedback since this started,” she said.

Community organizations have reached out to help her, such as the Victoria Public Library asking that she may speak there, and Urbina-Hare will be visiting the Dr. Pattie Dodson Public Health Center’s Crossroads Veterans Services Center to find out how to get the word out as voting has Help combat veterans.

Quarter-final voting takes place on Thursday, and people can vote for Urbina-Hale until 9 p.m. on June 22. People can vote once every 24 hours for free, and can vote further by purchasing Warrior Tickets, which earn one vote for every dollar spent. The money went to the Home of the Wounded Warrior, a nonprofit that builds homes for seriously wounded veterans.

“Just keep voting, especially with good reason,” she said.

If she wins the group stage, she will advance to the semi-finals, which begin on June 23 and run until June 29.

People can vote for Urbina-Hare at tinyurl.com/mrxkn5pe and could see her place in the quarterfinals tinyurl.com/3s3y3r6m.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Kyle Cotton is a graduate of San Antonio College and the University of Texas at Arlington. Cotton covers economic development, healthcare, finance, government, technology, oil and gas, and higher education.