COLLEGE STATION, Tex. — An incredible era of Saint Mary's Outdoor Women's Track came to an end on this Saturday evening, as Jaden DeSouza and Rayna Stanziano ran their final races as Gaels. DeSouza ran in the quarter finals of the 400m hurdles after qualifying for this race on Thursday evening, while Stanziano ran in her fourth west regional race, and her second career 5000m semi final. 

Running in the most inside lane for the second consecutive race, DeSouza again threw down a brilliant time, the second fastest of her career at 58.41, with only her run two nights ago being faster. Again, it was DeSouza's kick in the final straightaway that helped her capture the brilliant time. Overall, she finished with the 20th fastest time in the 400m hurdles National Quarterfinals, the final running of this event in the West Region meet in College Station. 

Stanziano settled into the back half of her heat of 24 runners in the 5000m, but began making moves on the outside, moving into the middle of the pack at the two minute mark, and nearer the top-10 at the seven minute mark. The pack really began to spread out eight and a half minutes in, as Stanziano continued to battle to stay in the mix. She eventually finished at 16:43.83, her sixth fastest career 5000m, and a big improvement from her 2022 5000m run at the NCAA Regionals, when she ran 18:22.29. 

Jaden and Rayna made an incredible impact on the track and field program at Saint Mary's. Jaden will leave as the program record holder in the 400m, 600m, 60m hurdles, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, high jump, javelin, and heptathlon, while running legs in the program record 4x400m, 4x800m sprint medley and distance medley relay teams. Stanziano holds the program 800m, 1500m, mile, 3000m and 5000m records, while running legs in the program record 4x400m, 4x800m and distance medley relay teams. 

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