Top LA Duo at RunningLane XC Champs: Bourg & DesRoches

We've seen plenty of impressive feats this cross country season, but it's finally time to see where Louisiana sizes up among the rest of the nation. Of course, we're talking about the RunningLane Cross Country Championships. Today, we're focusing on the top two individuals attending this event.

We begin with the undisputed girls' favorite, Emma Bourg of Houma Christian. The University of New Orleans commit has had an outstanding season, almost going undefeated. The one race where she didn't win this season was the Episcopal Round Table Run. This isn't out of character for her, as we usually see her perform her best at the very end of the season.

We've seen Bourg put up the fastest time in the state with her 17:21 at the St. Joseph's Academy Cross Country Invitational. She dominated the field, toppling other top talents in the state. On top of that, she soloed another sub-18-minute performance at the state meet. 

Emma Bourg ranks #4 among Louisiana 3-mile efforts:

1. Malia Cali, St. Thomas Aquinas, 2008 - 16:44

2. Keriann Langley, Mt. Carmel, 2003 - 16:49 (mixed girls and boys)

3. Katlin Flattman, Benton, 2010 - 17:20

4. Emma Bourg, Houma Christian, 2022 - 17:21

5. Gabrielle Jennings, First Baptist Christian, 2013 - 17:22

These feats speak for themselves, as Emma Bourg is a clear name to watch for the RunningLane Championships. Who knows if we will see more standout performances at this meet like we did when she competed at the RunningLane Track Championships this past spring. 

The other individual to watch out for at RunningLane would be Jack DesRoches, however, it would be naive to say that it would be solely him to look out for. It's repetitive at this point, but for the sake of conversation, we will focus on just him for now. 

The Vanderbilt University commit's season has been nothing short of stellar. Not only have we seen DesRoches be dominant on the local scale, but he has also gained notoriety at highly competitive meets such as The Southern Showcase in Alabama and the Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational in Indiana. 

DesRoches has achieved the feat of being crowned the individual champion in Division I, as well as running some of the fastest times in Louisiana history. As it stands, he is currently in the top four for both the all-time 3-mile and 5k distances for Louisiana. 

Jack DesRoches rankings among the 3-mile and 5k distances:

1. Eric Coston, St. Paul's, 2016 - 14:25

2. Jack DesRoches, Jesuit, 2022 - 14:29

3. Devyn Keith, John Curtis, 2015 - 14:30

4. Bobby Beck, Salmen, 1975 - 14:30

5. Brady Mullen, Jesuit, 2022 - 14:36

1. Ryan Travis, Sumner, 1996 - 15:01

2. Eric Coston, St. Paul's, 2016 - 15:03

3. Brady Mullen, Jesuit, 2022 - 15:04

4. Jack DesRoches, Jesuit, 2021 - 15:09

5. Mike Morin, Sulphur, 1989 - 15:13

As you may have noticed, DesRoches is not alone and has his teammate, Brady Mullen, to run alongside with. However, we have only seen improvement throughout the season from DesRoches and we may see him shoot for the state record this Saturday. John Hunt Park has been known to produce fast times, as we saw from last year's championship.