SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 4, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women's and men's track and field programs are gearing up for the 2023-2024 season. The indoor schedule starts on Dec. 9 while outdoor track and field begins on March 15.

Staff

Head Coach Patrick Torres and Assistant Coach Brett Charlton return for their fourth season. Orlando Matthews is back as an assistant coach, focusing on developing hurdlers, throwers and jumpers. Henry Spillers, Tamaj Gordon and Jose Zarate are the other assistant coaches. Gordon and Zarate begin their first season on staff after competing for the Saints in the last four years. Spillers specializes in coaching and developing hurdlers. Torres said, "I'm proud of the staff we have put together. I see some special things coming from the coaching staff."

Women's Track and Field

Returners

Senior leaders include Savannah Cassiano, Larrisa McHenry, Gabrielle Sigala and Viridiana Zuniga. McHenry qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 4x100m relay with Alondra Toledo, Kiana Kebbi and Autumn Roberts. Chante Mathews joins the squad as a graduate student.

Third-year returners are Esmy-Angelee Garcia, Bethany Garr, Leilani Leza, Sierra Ramirez, Roberts, Alexandria Segura, Victoria Sweeney and Mariah Watts. Kristen Torres transferred from Abilene Christian University to join the Saints.

Four sophomores return, a multi-athlete and two transfers join the squad. Mia Curiel, Liliana Hernandez and Kennedy Villalpando will build on their freshman success. Mia Francis joins the team as a multi-sport athlete with volleyball. The transfer players are Michealle Rodriguez and Angel Tucker.

Newcomers

The Saints boast a large freshmen class with 20 new athletes. The class includes Victoria Bartlett, Chanisty Bermea, Kamdyn Burgess, Leah Chanette, JaDae Freeman, Myleiah Guy, Arianna Haygood, Tara Madrid, Morgan Neely, Valeria Pena, Madison Perez, Jocelynn Reyes, Sanai Robinson, Brianna Rodriguez, Loreaya Turner, Victoria Urbanczyk, Daylah Vega and Madison Walker.

Urbanczyk and Bermea are multi-sports athlete who compete with the volleyball team. Also, Madrid plays for the soccer team. The group includes 19 Texas natives. Thompson is from Cincinnati and attended high school in Katy, Texas.

Conference opponents

The outdoor track and field team took second place at the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Championships last season. Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) won with 309 points. Huston-Tillotson University (HTU) placed third with 100 and Jarvis Christian University (JCU) finished fourth with 57.

Indoor schedule

The Saints start the indoor season at the Crimson and Gold Classic in Pittsburg, Kan., on Dec. 9. The lone January event is hosted by Texas A&M University at the Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station, Texas. The team will split with the Jarvis Scott Invitational hosted by Texas Tech and the Howie Ryan Invitational by the University of Houston on Feb. 9. The schedule closes with the NAIA National Indoor Championships in Bookings, S.D., from Feb. 29-March 2.

Outdoor schedule

OLLU's first outdoor event is the UTSA Invitational from March 15-16. Next, they travel to Austin, Texas, to compete in the Texas Relays hosted by the University of Texas from March 27-30. UIW hosts an invitational from April 5-7, and the RRAC Outdoor Championships follows from April 12-13 in New Orleans hosted by XULA.

The Saints have two meets after the conference championships. They participate at the J. Fred Duckett Twilight Meet hosted by Rice University on April 22. They close the season with the Last Chance Meet before the NAIA National Outdoor Championships from May 22-24 in Marion, Ind.

Men's Track and Field

Returners

The Saints have 42 athletes that will compete in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The senior leaders are Chris Davila, Kruz Malesich and graduating senior Hector Puente. The junior class is composed of Joseph Gonzalez, Justin Gould, JoseCarlos Hernandez, De'Jon Lewis, Diego Moran, Hendrick Ramirez, Robert Rios, Troy Stinson and Shakeel Zahid. Sophomores are Ryan Aldana, Jalen Bell, Francisco Contreras, Richard Davis, Sean Lin, Sabastian Moreno, Jesus Riefkohl Delgado, Jimmie Salas, Jose Saucedo, Cerrone Thompson, Jayden Turrubiates, Julian Verastegui and Spencer Williams.

Newcomers

OLLU welcomes a whopping 17 freshmen that will begin competition in December. The class includes Dominic Alonzo, Amancio Castilleja, Anthony Cervantes, Jayden Erikewe, Tony Favella, Vincent Garza, Jeyden Gonzales, Houston Ifah, D'Myun Jackson, Jair Lopez, Rodolfo Morales, Ethan Navarro, Anthony Perez, Jose Perez, Hipolito Salazar, Sigifredo Salinas, William Smith, Cristian Villarreal and Joshua Veliz. The freshmen class are all Texas natives. 

Conference opponents

The outdoor track and field team took first place at the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Championships last season with 252 points. Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) took second with 204 points, followed by Huston-Tillotson University (HTU) in third place at 92, Jarvis Christian University (JCU) in fourth place at 65 and Paul Quinn College (PQC) in fifth place at 21.

Indoor schedule

The Saints begin the indoor season at the Crimson and Gold Classic in Pittsburg, Kan., on Dec. 9. The lone January event is hosted by Texas A&M University at the Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station, Texas. The team will split with the Jarvis Scott Invitational hosted by Texas Tech and the Howie Ryan Invitational by the University of Houston on Feb. 9. The schedule concludes with the NAIA National Indoor Championships in Bookings, S.D., from Feb. 29-March 2.

Outdoor schedule

OLLU's first outdoor event is the UTSA Invitational from March 15-16. They travel to Austin, Texas, next to compete in the Texas Relays hosted by the University of Texas from March 27-30. UIW hosts an invitational from April 5-7, and the RRAC Outdoor Championships follows from April 12-13 in New Orleans hosted by XULA.

The Saints have two meets after the conference championships. They compete at the J. Fred Duckett Twilight Meet hosted by Rice University on April 22. They close the season with the Last Chance Meet before the NAIA National Outdoor Championships from May 22-24 in Marion, Ind.

Fan expectations

There are five Texas events between the indoor and outdoor season. Three competitions are in San Antonio. Torres commented, "You are going to see some of the most exciting racing in the history of the program. We broke a lot of records last season and have a potential to break even more this year. We have defeated a lot of NCAA D1 schools and have a chance to do it again."

Hear from Head Coach Patrick Torres.