SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 2, 2022) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) track and field teams are gearing up for the 2022-2023 season. Head Coach Patrick Torres and Assistant Coach Brett Charlton both return for their third season.

Staff

Assistant Coach Orlando Mathews and Student Assistant Lauren Perry will help guide the team alongside Torres and Charlton. Mathews joins the staff after spending the last two years working as a volunteer assistant with the hurdles, jumps and throwing athletes. Perry becomes a member of the coaching staff after earning All-Conference honors in 2022 for the 100mH as an athlete. Torres said, "I love having the biggest staff alongside me this season since I was hired as head coach. The group is knowledgeable, and we can always help each other."

Indoor schedule

The indoor track and field season will begin in Pittsburg, Kan., for the Crimson and Gold Invitational on Dec. 10. The next event is just over a month later in Houston. The teams will compete at the Leonard Hilton Invitational at the University of Houston (UH) from Jan. 13-14. The next two events are also at UH on Jan. 21 and Feb. 11. The indoor season closes with the NAIA Indoor National Meet from March 2-4 at South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D.

Outdoor schedule

The outdoor track and field campaign starts at Texas Southern University in Houston on March 17-18. The programs will compete at the Texas Southern Relays at 9 a.m. The next two events are at Rice University on March 24-25 and at Texas State University on March 29-April 1. The Saints return to San Antonio from April 8-9 to participate in the University of the Incarnate Word Invitational. The Saints' last event before hosting the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Championships will be at Texas A&M University-Kingsville on April 15. The RRAC Championships will be from April 28-29 at a location to be announced in the future.

Conference opponents

Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) will be one of the top teams competing with OLLU for the conference title. XULA won both the men's and women's outdoor track and field conference championships last season. Huston-Tillotson University specializes in 4x100 relays and the conference as a whole showcase top jumpers in the NAIA. OLLU placed third in the men's meet and fourth for the women.

Senior class

The women's track and field team will be led by eight seniors. The class includes Lindsey Broussard, Savannah Cassiano, Robbie Sue Espericueta, Natalie Martinez, Brianna Pantoja, Makhayla Parker, Nadia Sifuentes and Alondra Toledo. 

The men's senior class consists of David Dada, Tamaj Gordon, Hector Puente, and Nathaniel Rodriguez. Jose Zarate returns as a graduate student.

Sophomores/Juniors

The sophomore class for the women's team is as follows: Esmy-Angelee Garcia, Roxana Guerrero, Jasmine Hernandez, Kiana Kebbi, Leilani Leza, Sierra Ramirez, Autumn Roberts, Alexandria Segura, Victoria Sweeney and Mariah Watts. The men's group is Anthony Alvarado, Jalen Bell, Matthew Fleming, Justin Gould, JoseCarlos Hernandez, De'Jon Lewis, Nehemiah Littleton, Kaeden Monday, Diego Moran, Hendrick Ramirez, Robert Rios, Troy Stinson, Jaylon Tyler-Moses and Shakeel Zahid.

Larrisa McHenry, Gabrielle Sigala and Virdiana Zuniga make up the junior group for the women's team. Chris Davila and Kruz Malesich are the only two juniors for the men.

Newcomers

Mia Curiel, Bethany Garr, Khristian Harden, Liliana Hernandez, Karla Herrera, Deandra Ibarra, Michealle Rodriguez, Kaitlin Todora, Lexi Truong, Ayzaia Turner and Kennedy Villalpando are all fresh faces for the women's squad. The group includes five natives of San Antonio.

The men's team brings in a massive amount of freshmen. The 17-man squad includes Francisco Contreras, Richard Davis, Ruben Davis, Victor Delos Santos, Sean Lin, Sebastian Moreno, Joaquin Ramirez, Jesus Riefkhol-Delgado, Jimmie Salas, Jose Saucedo, Cerrone Thompson, Jayden Turrubiates, Julian Verasategui, Rodney Webber, Hassan Wilkerson, Deshawn Williams and Spencer Williams.

Fan expectations

Torres encourages fans to attend as many meets as possible. Torres notes, "It's not often that you get to see an NAIA team compete against NCAA D1 competition frequently. We can recruit based on positive results against top teams in the nation. It's great to see a small university from the Westside of San Antonio represent something that is bigger than ourselves."

Watch as Head Coach Patrick Torres discusses the upcoming season in depth