FROM LEFT: MOLLY CRAMER, CATALINA REICHARD, LUCY CRAMER ARE ALL SMILES AFTER SEASON OPENER!
Some of Louisiana's brightest stars made their way to Mobile, AL on Saturday to open their season at the 2023 Mobile Cross Country Challenge of Champions.
It's nothing new for Brother Martin.
Last year, the Crusaders won the boys' Invitational by scoring 28 points and placing six runners in the top 12.
Saturday, led by senior Gabriel Metoyer's third place finish(16:05), the Crusaders ran away with the team title. Brother Martin scored 30 points, 36 points better than runner-up UMS-Wright.
"It felt pretty solid," Gabriel Metoyer said of the race. "We came out here kind of like a little rust buster to start the season. We tried to stay together throughout the first little bit...run together, run smooth."
"It's always nice to win," Brother Martin head coach Drew Haro said. "We like to come to this meet. It's a challenging course. We had fairly nice conditions considering it's September. I didn't think we got out the best at the beginning. We recovered from that a little bit--which is good."
Other Brother Martin harriers finishing in the top 12 included Noah Mooney (No.4, 16:10), Luke Regan (No. 5, 16:16), Braeden Dunne (No. 8, 16:52), Anders Maitrejean (No. 10, 17:01) and Trey Trainor (No. 11, 17:06).
In the girls' invitational division, Louisiana runners were equally as dominant.
Lucy Cramer and Molly Cramer, the sisters who led Episcopal to a Division 3 state championship last year, transferred to Parkview Baptist over the off season. Both girls opened their season with strong performances.
After earning the MileSplit LA Preseason Runner of the Year award with 52% of the vote, freshman Lucy Cramer began her season with a win as she navigated the 5K course in 18:34. Younger sister, Molly, was third with a time of 19:01.
"I thought it was a good race," Lucy Cramer said. "I really enjoy coming out here to see a new course and racing people I've never raced before."
The runner-up in the girls' invitational division was Mt. Carmel's Catalina Reichard (19:00), who led the Cubs to a team title. Mt. Carmel scored 48 points, 25 points better than McGill-Toolen Catholic.
"I feel pretty good," Reichard said. "I did want to come out and win, but it's the first race of the season so I'm ready to peak at the end of the season."
Other scoring Mt. Carmel runners included Lucy Quintana (No. 4, 20:24), Sofia Meneses (No. 11, 21:50), Julia Zimmerman (No. 15, 22:27), and Sydney Salles (No. 17, 22:34).