Record-Setting Day Leads to Victory for Colonel Cross Country

Record-Setting Day Leads to Victory for Colonel Cross Country

 

The Goodman sisters finished 1-2 at Southern Miss on Friday

The Goodman sisters finished 1-2 at Southern Miss on Friday
 

Oct. 16, 2009

 

 

Southern Miss Open Men's Results in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

 

 

Southern Miss Open Women's Results in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

 

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Freshmen Dakota Goodman and Brea Goodman took first and second, respectively, the Nicholls State women's cross country team posted four personal record times to claim the top four spots en route to their first win of the year at the Southern Miss Open on Friday.

Originally scheduled to compete at Mississippi College, the Colonels were left scrambling to find a meet after the Choctaws cancelled this weekend's meet thanks to heavy rains that saturated a course already torn up from a previous week's race.

However, the Colonel women (who entered the race ranked 11th in the South Central region) didn't seem to mind the change in venue. Dakota Goodmanpicked up the first win of her collegiate career with a time of 18:37.54 on the 5K course. Twin sister Brea was right behind her at 18:41.51 to take second.

Meanwhile, junior Lauren Jones claimed third by clocking in at 18:42.79 and classmate Kadi Whisnant was hot on her heels with a time of 18:43.45 to take fourth.

Each of the top four times established new career records for the runners.

The Colonels were also bolstered by a top-ten finish from junior Jessica McLeod who's time of 20:06.07 took tenth. Imma Kosgei claimed 12th by clocking in at 20:46.92, freshman Skyla Jackson earned a top-15 finish with a time of 21:23.20 to take 15th and Marion Chebet was right behind her for a 16th-place time of 21:34.62.

Nicholls totaled just 20 points on the afternoon to hand Southern Miss it's first loss of the season. The Golden Eagles were a distant second with 42 points on their home course.

On the men's side, the Colonels saw three top-ten finishers en route to a second place total of 45 points.Tyler Folse led the way by clocking in at 23:04.81 to take sixth. Jordan Reed took eighth with a time of 23:31.29, Ross Mulloly came in at 23:59.17 to claim tenth and Joseph Fryou narrowly missed a top-ten finish with an 11th place time of 24:03.96.

The race marked the final pre-conference tune-up for both the men's and women's squads, and head cross country coach Matthew Esche says that Friday's performance bodes well for the Colonels with the conference championships looming.

"The men ran well. We had a pretty strong pack, but there is still a lot of work to do," Esche said. "The women went out from the gun and really dominated the race. It was a huge day for us. This is the perfect set up heading into the conference championships. It should be very exciting for us if we continue to train well the next couple of weeks, stay healthy and do what we need to do."

Nicholls will return to action on Oct. 31 when they head to the 2009 Southland Conference cross country championships in Corpus Christi, Texas.