Xavier men roll to Wolfpack Invitational championship

 METAIRIE, La. - Xavier University of Louisiana produced the first four scorers and rolled to a lopsided victory Saturday in the men's division of the Radisson Hotel Wolfpack Invitational cross country meet at Lafreniere Park.
     It was the ninth team championship and the largest winning margin in four seasons for the Gold Rush, which scored 21 points. Belhaven was second with 59 points, and Loyola was third with 61.
     XU's Mark Dotson ran 5,000 meters on a rain-soaked course in 18 minutes, 33 seconds to place second out of 38 runners. The freshman from Alexandria, La., and Holy Savior Menard Central High School has led Xavier and earned top-three finishes in both races this season.
     Matt Pieri (18:45), Ray Walston (18:52) and Darren Wallace (19:12.2) finished 3-4-5, with Pieri - a freshman from New Orleans and Brother Martin High - placing in the top four for the second straight race.
     Wallace, a senior from Baton Rouge, La., and Baton Rouge Magnet High, placed in the top five for the seventh time as a collegian.
     Loyola outscored Xavier 26-29 for the women's team title -- the first time since 2004 the Gold Nuggets lost to the Wolfpack - but XU's Ebony Harding was the first collegiate finisher, placing second out of 29 runners in 21:47. It was Harding's sixth runner-up finish with the Nuggets and the first time she was the first collegiate finisher.
     Like Wallace, Harding is a senior and a Baton Rouge High alum.
     Freshman Sabrina Vargas (Brookshire, Texas, and Royal High School) earned her first top-10 finish for XU, running ninth in 24:36.
     Unattached runners won both races. Andy Florek, a senior on LSU's roster and a teammate of Pieri at Brother Martin, was first in the men's race in 17:13. Elizabeth Kelly of Catch 22 Track Club led the women in 21:36.
     Five of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference's eight cross country schools competed. Xavier is the three-time defending GCAC men's and women's team champion.
     Xavier will compete next in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational at Lafayette, La., on Friday. The women's 5K will start at 6 p.m., followed by the four-mile men's race at 6:30.