Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's and women's cross country teams took in their first meet of the 2010 season on Friday, Sept. 17 hosting the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational at UL Research Park.
With meet-time conditions of 91 degrees and winds of 5-10 miles per hour under partly cloudy skies, both squads turned in second place finishes. The men ran a 6K race while the women competed in a 4K race. Juan Rodriguez and Zachary France were the top runners for the Cajuns men's squad, both turning in Top 10 finishes. France was the team's top runner most of the race, but Rodriguez edged him out in the end with a 6K time of 20:58 and finished fifth overall. France turned in a time of 21:09 which placed him seventh. Others participating in the season opener were Patrick Spiller (11th - 23:13), Cody Tilley (13th -23:52), Jordan McGee (15th - 24:03), Joel Taylor (17th - 24:28) and Brock Berttucci (19th - 25:45). As a team, the Cajuns men finished runner-up to Sun Belt rival La.-Monroe. The Warhawks placed five runners in the Top 10 to outdistance the Cajuns by 31 points. On the women's side Paula Parker led the women's 4K race the entire way until she was edged out by La.-Monroe's Madeline Robertson for the individual title coming down the final stretch to the finish line. Parker's 4K time of 15:38 was eight seconds shy of Robertson's winning tally. Parker was one of four Cajuns women who finished in the Top 10. Joining her was Petrona Layne (6th - 16:35), Katie Roland (8th - 16:48) and Michon Meche (10th - 16:56). Newcomer Hlfti Kahassy was the fifth and final Cajun to count toward the team score, coming in 11th with a time of 16:58. As a team, UL accounted for 37 points which was only five points off of La.-Monroe's lead. The meet marked the debut of Valeriu Tomescu, the former Romanian National team head coach who took over the Cajuns cross country program in August. "For the first race of this season I was pleased that we displayed good discipline and good work ethic," Tomescu said. "We expect the best to come by the end of the season." Louisiana continues the 2010 season on Saturday, Sept. 25 in Baton Rouge participating in the LSU Invitational being held at Highland Road Park. The meet begins with the women's 6K race at 8:35 a.m. RAGIN' CAJUNS MEN'S 6K RESULTS (22 total runners) RAGIN' CAJUNS WOMEN'S 4KRESULTS (28 total runners) OVERALL MEN'S TEAM RESULTS OVERALL WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS
5) Juan Rodriguez (20:58)
7) Zachary France (21:09)
11) Patrick Spiller (23:13)
13) Cody Tilley (23:52)
15) Jordan McGee (24:03)
17) Joel Taylor (24:28)
19) Brock Berttucci (25:45)
2) Paula Parker (15:38)
6) Petrona Layne (16:35)
8) Katie Roland (16:48)
10) Michon Meche (16:56)
11) Hlfti Kahassy (16:58)
14) April Colomb (17:14)
16) Jenna Picou (17:32)
19) Tiffany Patrick (18:10)
22) Torri Choate (18:20)
24) Kara Martin (18:32)
1) La.-Monroe 20
2) Louisiana 51
3) Xavier-Louisiana 53
4) Southern 86
1) La.-Monroe 32
2) Louisiana 37
3) Southern 72
4) Xavier-Louisiana 82