Rikita Saunders, a freshman on the Lady Statesmen Cross Country team, has been named the CableOne GoStatesmen.com Female Athlete of the Week after helping lead Delta State to a third place overall finish at the Central Arkansas XC Challenge.
In the season opening race, Saunders registered a 3-mile time of 18:51 en route to a 17th place overall finish to help anchor the Lady Statesmen. She has helped Delta State to consecutive Top-5 finishes to open the season.
Saunders, a St. Louis, Mo., native, was the second finisher for the Lady Statesmen in averaging 6:17 per mile over the 3-mile course in only the second race of her Lady Statesmen career.
The Lady Statesmen are back in action on Sept. 23, when they travel to Nashville, Tenn., for the Nashville Trevecca Nazarene Invitational.