The cross-country team can breathe easy. After nearly four months of competition, the Saints wrapped up their inaugural season by sending freshman Miriam Vazquez to the NAIA national championship meet in Vancouver, Wa., Nov. 21.

To say that Vazquez is the only runner to achieve success this year would be an understatement. The team as a whole made its mark by finishing the year with a fourth place finish at the Red River Athletic Conference championship meet. In the meet, Vazquez finished seventh overall. However, pulling the team to its fourth place finish was sophomore Brandis Hurt, finishing 15th overall. Sophomore Katherine Brunner, freshman Jessica McGlothlin and sophomore Bernadette Grajeda finished 23rd, 24th and 25th respectively.

The program's success in the first year isn't common, but Coach Stephen Sherman understands luck and hard work can often get the job done.

"In my experience, it is quite unique," said Sherman. "Like most first-year programs, we were lucky to field a team at all let alone have the success that we had."

Sherman also understands the next season will be tougher on his program because of the team's success this year.

"I feel the most profound element to it all is the leeway afforded to a first-year program emphatically disappears with our first year passing with such success," said Sherman. "The old adage says, ‘with much success comes much responsibility.' This is not to say we expect to set the world on fire next Fall, but we have to make sure a fourth place team finish at conference and Miriam's run at nationals is not as good as it gets."

Although the team may be resting, Sherman certainly is not. In addition to looking to add to next year's women's team, Sherman is also looking to recruit for a men's program to start next Fall.

"We are currently on a recruiting blitz for both men and women," he said. "The expectation is that there will be two full and successful squads next Fall."

In the meantime, Sherman knows he has something unique to build on thanks to his team's success this year.

"It definitely will not hurt in our recruiting efforts," he said. "It is an advantage to be able to tell a high school kid that he or she could be the next in what will hopefully become a long lineage of national qualifiers."

"It was our honor and privilege to represent OLLU throughout the season, and we look forward to not only doing it again next Fall but doing it better."