LUBBOCK, Texas — St. Edward's women's cross country entered the season with a young lineup learning to compete together. On Saturday, that group delivered its strongest conference championship finish in recent years, placing fifth at the Lone Star Conference Championships behind an All-LSC performance from freshman ABIGAIL PINON, who also recorded the ninth-fastest 6K in program history.
Pinon finished 13th overall, completing the course in 22:48.2 to earn All-LSC honors in her first conference championship appearance. Her time ranks ninth on St. Edward's all-time 6K performance list, adding another entry to the program record books after she and fellow freshman LILY BURTON rewrote the Hilltoppers' 5K records earlier this season.
Pinon's performance also made her the seventh-fastest individual in program history over 6K, joining a list led by MIA RIVERA's school-record 22:26.1. The freshman had spent much of the season running alongside Burton, who led St. Edward's in each of its three regular-season meets. With the distance increasing from 5K to 6K for the conference championships, Pinon stepped forward to lead the Hilltoppers when the stakes were highest.
Burton followed in 18th place with a time of 23:12.3, giving St. Edward's two freshmen among the conference's top 20. Burton entered the meet having rewritten the program's 5K record twice during the regular season, most recently running 17:40.2 at the DBU Old Glory Gallop. Although she finished just outside the 15 All-LSC positions, her performance gave St. Edward's a second runner near the front of the championship field.
The two freshmen have provided the foundation for the Hilltoppers' progress throughout the fall, but Saturday's fifth-place finish also reflected the development of the runners behind them.
Freshman EMMELINE SHAW delivered a strong postseason performance, finishing third for St. Edward's and 33rd overall in 23:37.8. Sophomore BRIANNE VASQUEZ followed just 4.9 seconds later in 23:42.7, placing 34th and giving the Hilltoppers two more finishers among the conference's top 35.
Junior VICTORIA HOYT completed the scoring five in 24:10.3, finishing 44th overall. Only 32.5 seconds separated Shaw, Vasquez, and Hoyt, allowing St. Edward's to build on the early scoring contributions from Pinon and Burton with a tightly grouped supporting pack.
The Hilltoppers totaled 134 points to finish fifth out of 15 teams, improving two places from last season's seventh-place conference finish. St. Edward's finished 59 points ahead of sixth-place UT Tyler and 88 ahead of seventh-place Cameron, while finishing just 12 points behind fourth-place Oklahoma Christian.
The result also exceeded the Hilltoppers' seventh-place projection in the conference preseason poll, reflecting the progress made under second-year head coach Chase Rathke.
Junior Adriana Rodriguez finished sixth for St. Edward's and 59th overall in 24:58.8, while freshman AVA BRILEY crossed in 25:10.0 to place 68th. Freshman Julia Gainar also competed, finishing 89th in 26:05.7.
West Texas A&M won the team championship with 19 points, placing four runners among the first four finishers and five in the top nine. Dallas Baptist finished second with 72 points, followed by Midwestern State with 108 and Oklahoma Christian with 122. West Texas A&M's Lola Sarthou won the individual championship in 21:16.6.
For St. Edward's, the fifth-place finish represented the culmination of a regular season built around rapid individual development and a young roster growing more competitive together. Pinon and Burton established themselves among the conference's leading freshmen, while Shaw, Vasquez, and Hoyt supplied the depth necessary to move the Hilltoppers into the upper third of the conference standings.
St. Edward's will return to Lubbock for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships, carrying a lineup that has already taken a significant step forward and will have another opportunity to measure its progress against the region's best.
