ODESSA, Texas (August 25, 2026) – The University of Texas Permian Basin women's cross country team had two student-athletes named to the 2026 Lone Star Conference Runners to Watch list: Celine Maldonado and Brianna Valenzuela.

Maldonado has been named a Runner to Watch for the second year in a row. She was the second-fastest Falcon during the final two regular-season races of the season as a freshman last year. She led the Falcons for the first time as a rookie, running a season-best 6K time of 26:40.4 to finish 94th out of 122 runners at the 2025 Lone Star Conference Championship (Oct. 25).

Valenzuela is a freshman from Odessa High School, where she was a member of the Academic All-State Team (2025-2026) and helped her team advance to Districts.

LSC PRESEASON POLL
In the LSC preseason poll, West Texas A&M is predicted to win its fourth consecutive Lone Star Conference women's cross country championship. West Texas A&M, which has won five conference titles overall (also 2012 and 2013), collected 510 points and 30 of the 32 possible first place votes. Head coach Zach Daniel's Lady Buffs finished ninth at the NCAA Division II Championships and fifth at the South Central Regional.

UT Tyler is the second-place conference pick with 445 points. The Patriots finished third at the conference meet last year. DBU, which won three straight conference title from 2020-22, is the third-place pick with 444 points and one first-place vote. Midwestern State, which has won seven LSC titles since 2008, is the fourth-place pick with 428 points and the final first-place vote.

Oklahoma Christian is the fifth-place selection with 379 points, followed by Cameron (325 points), St. Edward's (303 points), 2019 LSC champion Lubbock Christian (265 points), Texas A&M International (249 points) and Western New Mexico (245 points) to round out the top 10.

Texas A&M-Kingsville, which won the league crown in 1986, is the 11th-place pick with 201 points. UT Dallas is 12th with 176 points, followed by Eastern New Mexico (138 points), six-time conference champion Angelo State (132 points), UT Permian Basin (78 points) and Sul Ross State (35) to finish out the poll.

The preseason poll is voted on by LSC head coaches and sports information directors, while the runners to watch are nominated by their member institution.

The LSC women's cross country season begins as early as September 3. To see the league schedule, click here. The LSC Cross Country Championships are scheduled for November 7 at the LCU Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas. The event will be hosted by LCU. The NCAA Division II South Central Regional is scheduled for November 21 also at the LCU Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas. The NCAA Division II National Championship is scheduled for December 4 at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Falcons will kick the season off on Friday, September 4, at the Abilene Christian University Naimadu Classic.