Smith closes season with Regionals in San Antonio

Lockhart High School senior Olivia Smith closed out her cross country season with a 27th place finish on Saturday at the Region IV Cross Country Championships in San Antonio.

The 5,000-meter race included 173 runners from eight districts in a region that spans from north Austin down to the Valley.

Smith’s race did not start until 12:30 p.m., which created weather condit

ions that were the warmest in several weeks. The senior began the race in a strong position, and used a good pace to steadily move up through the field.

She covered the course in a personal best 20:34.6. As usual, she was able to pass a number of runners in the final 200 meters with a strong finishing kick.

“Olivia ran an outstanding race today,” Coach Tim Bayliss said. “She improved her personal record by over 10 seconds and finished in the top 30. We are all very proud of her effort and result. She represented the school and community of Lockhart with pride this afternoon.”

Of the ten races she ran this season, Smith was either the first or second Lockhart finisher in nine of those races.