MOBILE, Ala. – Led by strong performances by freshman Logan Pearce and Anna Katherine Devitt, the Louisiana cross country team finished second overall on the men's side while the women's team earned a third-place performance at the 39th annual Azalea City Classic on Saturday at the Mobile County Fairgrounds.
"We got what we wanted out of the meet," Louisiana head coach Lon Badeaux said. "We ran against some pretty good teams and we turned in some solid performances on both sides. We're not where we want to be right now as a team, but we're getting there."
Louisiana finished second in the seven-team event with 42 points, trailing Sun Belt Conference rival South Alabama (21). Tulane (84), Southeastern Louisiana (115), New Orleans (138), Troy (143) and Alabama State (169) rounded out the field.
Pearce, competing in his second collegiate meet, finished second overall as he covered the 8-kilometer course in 24 minutes, 55.2 seconds and led a group of four Louisiana runners who finished in the top 10. Corbett Ourso (25:28.34) finished seventh overall with Matt Rice (25:35.48) finishing ninth and Jacob Chicola (25:41.03) placing 10th.
Trey Bonin (26:06.10) placed 14th overall for the Ragin' Cajuns with Sean Bezdek (26:27.42) 22nd and Scott Brewster (27:01.65) 27th.
Devitt turned in the top time for Louisiana on the women's side, covering the 6K course in 21:58. Freshman Claire Hodges (22:08) finished 10th overall for the Ragin' Cajuns with Ashley Irwin (22:27) finishing 16th, Danielle Castaldi (23:30) 24th, and Courtney Musgrove (24:24) 39th.
Jessica Donald (24:46) finished 46th for the Ragin' Cajuns with Kaylei Esfeller (24:48) finishing 47th and Camille Barnett (25:04) placing 49th.
The Ragin' Cajuns scored 96 points and finished behind UAB (20) and South Alabama (73) in the 10-team field. Alabama State (104) was fourth in the standings followed by Troy (106), Tulane (145), UAB "B" (151), New Orleans (201), Troy "B" (215) and SLU (284).
Louisiana will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 28, when the Ragin' Cajuns will compete in the McNeese State Cowboy Stampede.