Erik Jaramillo becomes the 1st Pirate in program history to cross the finish line.
Victoria College’s cross country team completed its inaugural meet at the 46th Rice Invitational at Rice University on Friday.
The men ran unattached as their fifth runner is recovering from an injury.
Erik Jaramillo, a freshman from Port Lavaca Calhoun High School, became the first Pirate to cross the finish line in the program’s history.
“It feels good for us to complete our first race,” said Jaramillo. “It was a challenge competing against universities, but it shows where we as a team still need work and can strive to improve.”
Jaramillo finished with a time of 28:07.3 and was followed by Southwest High School graduate David Ward with a time of 28:14.9.
Athletic Director Trey Anderson has stepped in as interim head coach while a search committee looks to replace Coach Ronnie Moore, who stepped down last month for personal reasons.
“We are thankful for Coach Moore’s efforts to form the inaugural team, and we’re committed to ensuring our student athletes’ hard work pays off,” said Anderson. “We are proud and excited, and we’re just getting started. We’re already beginning to recruit class of 2023 athletes from the Crossroads community to compete on next year’s cross country team.”
The Pirates cross country team is scheduled to run its next meet at the Concordia Classic on Sept. 23.