ST. LOUIS – The Saint Xavier University women's track and field team began the Outdoor track & field season competing at two events in St. Louis, Mo. on Friday and Saturday. Senior Olivia Mathis (Akron, Ohio/Lourdes/St Vincent-St. Mary) and senior Lexi Clarke (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet JC/Plainfield South) represented the Cougars at the Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) WashU Distance Carnival on Friday. On Saturday, SXU placed eighth of out 22 teams at the St. Louis University (Mo.) Billikins Invitational with 24 points.

Mathis and Clarke both established new personal records (PR) in the 800m with Mathis placing ninth overall at 2:15.83, the top time for an NAIA runner and the fourth-fastest in program history. Clarke wasn't too far behind with her 13^th place time of 2:16.60, tying for the seventh-best time in team history. At the Billikins Invite, junior Yanira Deana Paninka (Canary Island, Spain/Central Methodist/IES Jandia) broke the school record in the 400m Hurdles, by over two seconds in her first Outdoor meet for Saint Xavier, with a time of 1:04.21 to place third overall.

• On Saturday, junior Emerson Colins (New Lenox, Ill./St. Francis/Lincoln-Way West) placed eighth in the 100m, posting the seventh-fastest time in program history and her fourth-best, crossing at 12.39 seconds. Sophomore Amaya Rique (St. Louis, Mo./Mineral Area/Seckman) recorded a time of 12.83 seconds in her Outdoor debut. Sophomore Rashiya Warfield (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) set a new PR with her time of 13.50 seconds.
• Colins ran her second-best career time for the Cougars in the 200m at 25.66 seconds, the fourth-quickest all-time for SXU, to place eighth. Rique checked in with a mark of 26.59 seconds. Warfield registered another PR, clocking in at 28.27 seconds, while freshman Sophia Thomas (Highland, Ill./Highland) made her Outdoor debut by running a time of 30.18 seconds.
• Competing in the 400m, Thomas posted a time of 1:10.22.
• Senior Kristin Booker (St. Louis, Ill./Cardinal Ritter) finished 10^th overall in the 800m with her second-best career time of 2:28.63.
• Warfield was ninth in the 100m Hurdles, registering a time of 15.45 seconds to set her third PR of the day, and tying the fourth-best time in team history in the discipline.
• The 4x400 Relay Team of Deana Paninka, Rique, Colins and Clarke recorded the third-fastest time in school history after the group place second with a time of 4:03.42.
• In the Shot Put, junior Jamie Sierocki (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) was seventh with her throw of 11.72m, her third-best and the third-furthest distance in school history. Freshman Mariah James (Alsip, Ill./Shepard), making her Outdoor debut, tied for the fourth-longest throw in Saint Xavier history with an eighth-place toss of 11.69m. Junior Katie DeHaan (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) established a new PR with a distance of 11.34m, finishing 10^th overall. Sophomore Amariah Scott (Chicago, Ill./Thornton Township) checked in with a throw of 10.50m.
• James was eighth in the Discus with a mark of 37.34m, eighth-best all-time for the Cougars. Sierocki PR'd with her toss of 34.91m, while DeHaan recorded her second-best career distance at 30.45m and Scott logged her third-furthest career throw at 21.23m.
• In the Hammer, Scott demolished her old PR by over eight meters with her sixth-place toss of 41.66m, becoming just the fifth thrower for SXU to surpass the 40.00m mark. Sierocki bested her pervious PR by over a meter with a distance of 38.61m. DeHaan smashed her old PR by over five meters with a throw of 34.62m and James had a toss of 34.39m in her first time competing at the collegiate level.
• Sierocki posted the fourth-best and her fourth-furthest distance in program history in the Javelin after placing eight with a mark of 32.82m. DeHaan set a new PR, and the fifth-best throw in team history, with her 10^th place throw of 32.59m.

Saint Xavier is scheduled to participate in the two-day Chicagoland Championships hosted by Elmhurst University (Ill.) beginning on Friday, April 4.