Louisiana Lafayette Press Release:
LAFAYETTE – A dominating performance by the Ragin’ Cajuns men’s cross country team and close second place finish for the Ragin’ Cajuns women highlighted the 2012 Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational meet held Friday evening at Acadiana Park.
Louisiana collected all Top 5 finishes on the men’s side – all within one minute of each other – to easily outdistance Southern for the team championship. The Cajuns quintet of scorers accounted for 15 points, meanwhile Southern’s second-place effort garnered 69 points.
Senior Zach France led the UL men’s contingent with an 8K time of 26:25.5 which landed him the individual title in the event for the second straight season.
France was followed by the Cajuns heralded freshmen grouping of Cole Stafford (2nd – 26:53.0), Matthew Rice (3rd – 27:06.2), Lafayette’s own Trey Bonin (4th – 27:06.9) and Corbett Ourso (5th – 27:13.1) in accounting for the Cajuns team score.
UL’s Scott Brewster (27:34.9) claimed sixth place and Patrick Spiller finished seventh (29:08.6).
The first non-Cajun on the men’s side to count toward scoring was Southern’s Willie Williams who came in eighth with a time of 29:16.4.
To take Louisiana’s domination even further, the grouping that claimed the Top 5 spots all finished two minutes faster than the highest-finishing non-UL athlete.
“It turned out to be a really great meet for us,” head coach Lon Badeaux said. “All of our athletes improved significantly from the first meet. On this tough course, for our men to run that fast as a group and for Anna Katherine to register the time she did was pleasing.”
On the women’s side, the Ragin’ Cajuns were edged by Nicholls State as the Colonels were able to grab three of the Top 5 times. Nicholls accrued 25 points, just ahead of Louisiana’s 31 points.
Anna Katherine Devitt led the charge in the women’s 5K for the hosts with a second-place effort of 19:18.9. Devitt (Baton Rouge/Christian Life) easily bested her 5K time of 21:34.72 in the season opener at Memphis. She led the Cajuns women for the second straight outing.
Ashley Irwin joined Devitt in the Top 5 clocking in at 20:07.3 for a fifth place finish.
Nicholls State’s Tessni Carruthers finished in front of Devitt for the individual women’s title with a time of 18:24.6.
Danielle Castaldi (7th – 20:36.9), Bree Fontenot (8th – 20:24.6) and Genevieve Roy (9th – 20:50.8) were the other three runners to count toward the Cajuns team total.
The Cajuns men’s Top 5 times totaled 2:14.44.9 in the 8K trek. The Cajuns women’s Top 5 times added up to 1:41.39.8 in the 5K course.
Louisiana enjoys another two-week break in competition and begins focusing on the Sun Belt Conference meet set for Saturday, Oct. 27. In the next outing, the Ragin’ Cajuns travel to Lake Charles for the McNeese Cowboy Stampede on Saturday, Sept. 29.
“We are now at that crucial point in training where we actually start looking down the road and begin preparing for our conference meet,” Badeaux said. “They should have had their heaviest legs here. I expect to run even faster at McNeese and really get tested at the Chile Pepper Festival. That will give us a good barometer to judge from heading into the conference meet.”
For all of the latest news and information on Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow the athletics department on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/ULRaginCajuns along with @ULRaginCajuns on Twitter.
RAGIN’ CAJUNS MEN’S 8K TIMES
1) Zach France (26:25.5)
2) Cole Stafford (26:53.0)
3) Matthew Rice (27:06.2)
4) Trey Bonin (27:06.9)
5) Corbett Ourso (27:13.1)
6) Scott Brewster (27:34.9)
7) Patrick Spiller (29:08.6)
9) Courtland Privat (29:53.5)
10) Willie Allen (32:40.0)
RAGIN’ CAJUNS WOMEN’S 5K TIMES
2) Anna Katherine Devitt (19:18.9)
5) Ashley Irwin (20:07.3)
7) Danielle Castaldi (20:36.9)
8) Bree Fontenot (20:45.6)
9) Genevieve Roy (20:50.8)
10) Jessica Donald (21:02.6)
16) Kara Martin (24:42.0)
Nicholls Press Release:
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Nicholls State University men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up competition at the annual Ragin Cajuns Invitational on Friday night, as the women's team came away with the meet crown while the men's trio all finished within the top 15 individuals on the evening.
This is the second consecutive win for the Nicholls women's team scoring team 25 points to beat out host ULL for the title, as they also won the McNeese Relays last weekend.
Tessni Carruthers was the top performer on the women's side, finishing first 18:24.6 to lead a trio of Nicholls performers in the top five and quartet in the top six in the women's 5K.
Sarah Pressley finished third with a time of 19:50.5, followed by Emily Charlesworth in fourth with a time of 20:07.1 and Jackie White in sixth with a time of 20:21.9.
Sebie O'Neill paced the men's side in the 8K, finishing seventh overall with a time of 28:39.9, breaking the string of ULL runners who took the top six spots in the event. Kane Daigle finished tenth with his time of 29:20.3, while Reece Vitale finished 12th with a time of 30:14.6.
Ashley Johnson had the 13th best time overall finishing in 22:03.5, followed by Victoria Williams' time of 22:40.7 which was 15th fastest.
The Colonels were rounded out by Emily Carrere's 16th place finish, Maria Mondello's 18th place finish Terrian Gauff's 21st place finish and Alexandra Martin's 22nd place finish.
Both teams will be back in action next weekend, participating in the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge.