After two years of finishing third, the Reicher girls cross country squad won its first state TAPPS 3A championship Saturday at the Bear Run Cross Country Course.

The Lady Cougars finished with 51 points, besting second place Houston St. Thomas Episcopal by 19 points and Red Oak’s Ovilla Christian by 50.

“The seniors now are the ones who started the program with me as freshman,” coach John Ryan said. “They came up to me after track season and said they wanted to run cross country.”

Senior Sandra Ramirez was the top finisher for the Lady Cougars, running the course in 14 minutes and 20 seconds for 10th place. She was awarded 1st All State. Senior Madeline Bruick finished one spot behind Ramirez with a 14:20 time. Lizeth Salazar, Mariele Estes, Jessica Trippe, Annie Jaska and Katie Marroquin in the top 36 spots.

“We knew we had a good shot at the top three, but (this) was a little bit of a surprise,” Ryan said.