CHICAGO – Competing at the Grand Valley State University (Mich.) Holiday Open on Friday in Allendale, Mich. and the Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) Holiday Open on Saturday in Bourbonnais, Ill., the Saint Xavier University women's track & field team started the 2024-25 season with a pair of runners hitting the NAIA 'B' Standard in the 800m Friday afternoon. Senior Olivia Mathis (Akron, Ohio/Lourdes/St Vincent-St. Mary) ran her second-best time as a Cougar, crossing at 2:16.28, and posting the sixth-faster mark in team history, placing eighth. Senior Lexi Clarke (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet JC/Plainfield South) was close behind at 2:16.99 for an 11^th place draw and recording ninth-quickest time all-time for SXU. No team scores were recorded for either meet.

GVSU Holiday Open:

• Junior Emerson Colins (New Lenox, Ill./St. Francis/Lincoln-Way West) ran the second-fastest in SXU history in the 60m Dash, clocking in at 7.81 seconds to finish ninth. In the preliminary heats, she posted the fourth-best time at Saint Xavier at 7.82 seconds to qualify for the finals.
• Colins broke her own school record in the 200m when she finished with a time of 26.60 seconds. Sophomore Amaya Rique (St. Louis, Mo./Mineral Area/Seckman), making her debut as a Cougar, registered a time of 27.22 seconds.
• Running in the 400m, Rique recorded a time of 1:03.23.
• Also racing in the 800m, junior Yanira Deana Paninka (Canary Island, Spain/Central Methodist/IES Jandia) clocked in at 2:19.67 in her Indoor debut for SXU.
• The 4x400 Relay team of Colins, Mathis, Paninka and Clarke posted the fifth-fastest time in team history with a seventh-place time of 4:03.54.

ONU Holiday Open:

• In the prelims of the 60m Dash, three Saint Xavier runners qualified for the finals as Colins crossed with a time of 7.86 seconds, junior Naomi Cargo (Chicago, Ill./Curie) recording her second-best career time at 8.04 seconds, and Rique at 8.24 seconds. In the finals, Colins placed second at 7.81 seconds, Cargo posted a new personal record (PR) at 7.96 seconds to place third, and Rique clocked in at 8.29 seconds.
• Cargo finished fourth overall in the 200m with a new PR time of 27.02 seconds. Sophomore Rashiya Warfield (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) placed ninth with a time of 28.17 seconds. Freshman Sophia Thomas (Highland, Ill./Highland) made her collegiate debut and posted a mark of 30.09 seconds, while junior Nayilea Bejarano (Posen, Ill./Eisenhower) crossed the line at 31.60 seconds.
• Paninka ran the eleventh-best time in Saint Xavier history in the 400m in her season debut in the event at 1:02.18 to place fourth. Senior Kristin Booker (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) wasn't too far behind with a sixth-place time of 1:04.37.
• Mathis took home first place in the Mile in her debut in the event as a Cougar, crossing at 5:31.21. She is the first SXU runner to win the event since former All-American Ellie Willging (2015-18) won on the same track on February 20, 2016. Clarke, also running in the race for the first time with SXU, was second with a mark of 5:37.26.
• Competing in the 3000m, junior Isabella Alatorre (Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower) ran her third-best career time at 12:36.37 to finish in fourth place. Sophomore Alexia Guzman (Chicago, Ill./Solorio Academy) ran in the event for the first time in her collegiate career, taking fifth with a mark of 12:37.28. Junior Emma Karczewski (Chicago, Ill./Marist) was sixth overall, recording her second-best career time at 13:04.48. Freshman Ava Mayer (Chicago, Ill./Marist) made her collegiate debut with an eighth-place time of 13:49.84.
• Warfield ran a time of 9.59 seconds in the prelims of the 60m Hurdles and she placed fifth in the finals with a new PR of 9.58 seconds.
• The 4x400 Relay squad of Booker, Rique, Thomas and Warfield had the top time at 4:23.84 seconds, the fifth-time that SXU has won the event all-time.
• In the Long Jump, Bejarano finished ninth with a distance of 4.34m, while Thomas recorded a mark of 4.25m to take 10^th overall in her debut in the event.
• Junior Jamie Sierocki (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) placed second in the Shot Put at 11.93m for the third-best throw of her career and the fifth-best all-time at Saint Xavier. Freshman Mariah James (Alsip, Ill./Shepard), making her collegiate debut, finished fourth with a throw of 11.03m. Sophomore Amariah Scott (Chicago, Ill./Thornton Township) also had a Top 10 draw, taking eighth with a toss of 10.43m.
• James placed fourth in the Weight Throw with a distance of 12.00m. Sierocki was fifth overall with her throw of 11.88m, while Scott took sixth-place after a mark of 11.45m to establish a new PR.

Saint Xavier prepares for the two-day St. Ambrose University (Iowa) Finals Week Invite that begins on Friday, December 13 in Davenport, Iowa.