Saints Win Their Ninth Red River Cross-Country Championships

TEXARKANA, TEXAS (Nov. 3, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women's cross-country team has won its ninth Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Cross-Country Championships. The event took place Friday morning in Texarkana, Texas.

Head Coach Patrick Torres commented, "This is by far the best team I've ever coached. There's always someone having a breakout race or stepping up when someone is falling behind. I'm hoping if in two weeks we're at full health, we can have our best team national finish of all time."

The women's team marked 22 points to win the 6K. The Saints were followed by Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) with 39 points, the University of the Southwest with 86 points, Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) with 110 points, Huston-Tillotson University (HTU) with 133 points and Jarvis Christian University (JCU) with 140 points.

Freshman Sanai Robinson captured her first Individual Medalist Award with a time of 22:59. Mia Curiel finished third with a time of 24:15. Viridiana Zuniga placed fifth with a time of 24:29, followed by Sierra Ramirez with a time of 24:30 for sixth place and Leilani Leza with a time of 24:31 for seventh place. All were named to the All-Conference team and will qualify for the 44th Annual NAIA Women's Cross-Country National Championship on Nov. 17 in Vancouver, Wash.

Other finishers for the Saints were Jocelynn Reyes with a time of 25:35 for 11th place, Valeria Pena with a time of 25:53 for 13th and Daylah Vega with a time of 26:09 for 14th place.

Robinson also earned Freshmen of the Year honors, and Head Coach Patrick Torres received Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.  

The women's team first won the conference meet in 2013 and repeated in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2018, the University of the Southwest captured the women's title, with the Saints were runners-up. The Saints returned in 2019 to win and proceeded to capture the title in 2020, 2021 and 2022.