LACEY, WA — After competing in the Green River Gator Invitational and the Bill Roe Classic in September, Saints Cross Country is already starting to find success in the 2024 season.

On September 14th, both Men's and Women's Cross Country teams would head up the road to Fort Steilacoom Park to open their season. Kya Ramirez would lead the way for the Saints in the Women's 4K by finishing 57th with a time of 15:06, while Olivia Mitchell, Ruby Bryntesen, and Charis Deitemeyer would all finish in the top 100. Elijah Dale would finish 35th out of 135 participants in the Men's 6K with an impressive mark of 18:29. Noe Ortega, Timmy Higgins, and Aric Jacklin would finish in the top 100 and the Men's Cross Country team would finish 10th out of 13 teams overall.

The Saints would follow up their opening contest two weeks later in Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale to compete in Western Washington University's Bill Roe Classic. Dale would once again stand out in the Men's 8K, setting a personal-best time of 25:28 and finishing 41st out of 175 total competitors. Higgins and Ortega would also set new personal bests, with Timmy breaking his by over a minute with a time of 26:41, and Noe would finish the day with a time of 27:42. Ethan Coon, Matthus Andersen, and Jordan Pacheco-Mendez would set impressive marks in their first recorded 8K races and Aric Jacklin would look better than ever in his first race since returning from injury. Men's Cross Country would finish 8th out of 10 teams. In the Women's 6K, Ramirez would once again impress for the Saints as she would only finish one second behind per personal record from last season at a mark of 23:42. Mitchell would be the second Saint to cross the finish line at 24:34, and Mira Jayarama, Bryntesen, and Deitemeyer would all record their first times in the 6K.

First-year head coach Gabriel Trimbur is pleased with how the season has started for the Saints, and feels that they are in a good spot going into the next portion of the season:

"I think we raced well for where we're at in the season.  The expectation was to get out and experience the 6k/8k distance and remind ourselves of how it feels to undergo that level of stress and discomfort.  I'm proud of how these athletes have handled the training load over the last couple of months and how they keep their long-term goals in mind as they continue to stack each week on top of each other.  This has been a great, positive group to work with which makes training and race day even more exciting!"

Both Cross Country teams will compete in the Emerald City Open this Saturday, October 12th at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle, Washington.