Fast freshmen lead Gold Rush to second place at USMSeptember 4, 2009Results HATTIESBURG, Miss. — In their first collegiate cross country race, Xavier University of Louisiana freshmen Mark Dotson and Matt Pieri showed why they were among the best high-school runners in Louisiana the past two seasons.
Dotson and Pieri finished 3-4 in a field of 33 Friday, leading the Gold Rush to second place in the season-opening Southern Miss Invitational. They also recorded two of the lowest four-mile times in school history.
Dotson became the second XU harrier to break 22 minutes at that distance, covering the course at Tatum Park in 21:58.43. Pieri's 22:08.95 is No. 4 on the XU all-time list.
In seventh place — his ninth career top-10 finish — was senior Darren Wallace, whose 22:52.51 is sixth on the XU list. Wallace owns two of the six lowest four-mile times in Gold Rush history. Sophomore Ray Walston, who holds the Xavier four-mile record, was 15th in 23:14.53.
West Alabama's Jonathan Sellers won in 21:40.70.
Dotson, from Alexandria's Holy Savior Menard Central High School, was the Class 2A cross country individual state champion in 2008 and 2007 and won indoor and outdoor state track championships in 2009 in the 1,600-meter run. Pieri, from Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, finished fourth in the 2007 Class 5A state meet and ninth in the 2008 meet. He helped Brother Martin win the 5A state championship in 2007 and finish third in '08.
The Gold Rush scored 48 points, 12 behind team champion West Alabama. Xavier, an NAIA member, finished ahead of two NCAA Division I opponents, Jackson State and Nicholls State. It was the first time since 2003 that Xavier's men outscored Nicholls. Xavier, the three-time defending Gulf Coast Athletic Conference champion, also outscored league opponent Mobile. That gives the Rush a 26-0 record against GCAC competition since the start of the 2007 season. Xavier will compete next in the Wolfpack Invitational on Sept. 12 at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans.
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. — It was a familiar scenario Friday for Xavier University of Louisiana women's cross country standout Ebony Harding. She was the Gold Nuggets' fastest finisher for the 22nd time in as many collegiate races, and for the fifth time she broke the school record for 5,000 meters. Harding covered the 5K in 19 minutes, 47.14 seconds to finish ninth out of 41 runners in the season-opening Southern Miss Invitational. She shaved nearly two seconds from her previous best of 19:48.84, which she set at the 2008 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships.
The top-10 finish was the 11th of Harding's career.
Freshman Sabrina Vargas placed 17th in 21:18.91 in her collegiate debut and was the Gold Nuggets' second fastest runner. She was nearly 17 seconds faster than teammate Anna D'Souza, who shared the Freshman of the Year award on the 2008 All-Louisiana team.
Xavier scored 110 points to finish fifth out of five teams. Southern Miss had the top three finishers, including winner Krista Moylan (18:37.55), and scored 40 points to win the team title by four points over runner-up Nicholls State.