KINGSVILLE, Texas — St. Edward's leaned into its identity Saturday at the Cactus Cup—young, fast, and steadily building—stacking depth and gaining experience across the sprints and jumps against a competitive South Texas field.

The Hilltoppers' sprint group once again set the tone. Seniors JASMINE COOKE and ISABELLA BICKHAM led the way with personal bests in the 100 meters. Cooke clocked a fourth-place finish at 12.08, pacing a wave of six Hilltoppers in the event. Bickham followed in eighth (12.68), while freshmen ADDISON CERVANTEZ, LAUREN SANCHEZ, and CADENCE COLICHER packed the middle of the standings, continuing a trend of a freshman class gaining ground meet by meet.

That same blend showed up in the 200 meters, where freshman EMORY LIMUEL delivered one of the top performances of the day, placing 13th overall at 25.76 before doubling back in the 400 meters to take fourth in 59.57—one of the Hilltoppers' top finishes on the track. Cooke added a 26.04 in the 200, while Bickham and a deep group of underclassmen continued to build consistency across multiple sprint events.

In the hurdles, MYOSIA VIRGIN (15.36) and Mary-Kate Havens (15.60) placed sixth and seventh, respectively, running nearly in tandem and continuing to anchor the event group.

The field events provided some of the Hilltoppers' strongest top-end finishes. Freshman LAUREN SANCHEZ turned in a standout performance in the long jump, placing fourth and setting the school record with a mark of 5.33 meters (17' 6"), while EVELYN ELLIS followed closely in fifth at 5.23 meters to give St. Edward's two of the top five finishers. EBBIN MALLORY and LORENA CERDA added depth, with Cerda doubling back in the triple jump to place sixth at 10.72 meters.

Across the meet, St. Edward's continued to show growth in both numbers and competitiveness. While host Texas A&M-Kingsville controlled much of the top-end scoring across multiple events, the Hilltoppers countered with depth—placing multiple athletes in key sprint events and stacking finishes in the horizontal jumps.

The result was another step forward for a roster that continues to lean heavily on its freshman class, with veterans like Cooke providing stability while a new wave continues to close the gap.