MONROE, La—The ULM men’s and women’s cross country teams got their seasons underway Saturday as they competed in the Warhawk Invitational at Chenault Park Golf Club.
Grace Korir from Grambling State finished first overall in the women's 5K race with a time of 19:28.28 and Warren Brown from UT-Tyler took first for the men in the 8K race with a time of 25:53.81. In the team competition, the ULM men were a perfect 3-0 in the dual-scoring format, besting Grambling State (25-36), Louisiana-Lafayette (20-41), and Northwestern State (19-44). The ULM women were 0-3 after closes losses to the other three participating teams.
Moses Chelimo led the way for the Warhawks coming in sixth with a time of 26:46.77. Andrew Opata finished ninth while his Warhawk teammate Britt Koestler rounded out the top ten.
ULM finished out in groups as Jorel Torres and Hunter Russell finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Kendall Robbins and Seth Hall also finished in back to back spots as they placed 15th and 16th, respectively.
“I thought it went really well today,” ULM head cross country coach William Rogers said. “The men ran really well as a team. What I wanted them to do was pack up, run together, and just relax from the start and they did that.”
In the women’s race, ULM’s Brittany Blackmon finished third overall with a time of 19:45.24. Kelsie Coats came in 16th, Denise Myers was 20th, Brittney Rogers came in 38th, Natasha Washington finished 39th, and Dominique McAdoo came in 44th.
“On the women’s side our big goal today was to get five across the finish line and we did that,” Rogers said. “Brittany Blackmon ran a great race. She’s looking really strong right now.”
The Warhawks will be back in action Sept. 29 when they compete in the NSU Invitational in Nachitoches, La.