GEORGETOWN, TEXAS - The Southwestern University Women's Cross Country team kicked off their 2025 season by hosting the Stormy Seas Opener on Saturday, August 30th. The Pirates faced a challenging 5K course, where all of them finished in under twenty-four minutes.
Head Coach Joe Sponsel shared his thoughts post meet saying, "Overall I'm pleased with how we ran this morning. I talked to the team this week about understanding what our definition of success is here at the first race, that is executing a simple race plan and coming away knowing a couple things in our control which we can improve for next time. Obviously I want everyone to run as fast as they can, but they need to learn how exactly to do that, whether it's nutrition, hydration, sleep, imagery, mantras, getting hyped, or something else. Identifying those and then exerting our control over them will help us get the most out of the fitness we have, improve our times, and competitive ceiling. And for the women, I was super proud of the fight from all of them. Every time I saw them in the race, they were ahead of someone else. Answering the question "How do I pass the person in front of me?" was my challenge for them on the second lap and they gave a resounding answer. They are off to a great start and similar to the men, will be even better when everyone is healthy and all together."
MEET HIGHLIGHTS
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Southwestern women finished third overall as a team and were the top Division 3 school in the meet
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Four first-years finished in the top seven within the team
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Two Pirates ran faster on this course compared to the same race last year, those being Isabel Sainz (two minutes faster) and Casey Gilbert (thirty seconds faster)
SOUTHWESTERN RESULTS
Isabel Sainz - 19:42.3
Addison Jackson - 19:57.4
Luca Bella Francis - 21:10.9
Casey Gilbert - 21:34.1
Hallie Martinez - 21:59.0
Sophie Sullivan - 21:59.4
Emma Adams - 22:14.1
Irene Ramirez - 22:40.7
Emily Chaires - 22:49.6
Elizabeth Upton - 22:50.4
Abigayle Stubby-Kern - 22:51.2
Sylvia Baldwin - 23:48.9
Jordan Hollub - 23:58.9
UP NEXT
