Continued Improvement Highlights Stampede
 |
 Freshman Paige Callahan Led the Team In Their Third Race of the Season at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede |
Oct. 1, 2011
Women's Results (HTML) | Men's Results (HTML)
HOUSTON, Texas - Paige Callahan continued to lead the women's squad and Brian Lozes paced the men's team for the second straight meet as the Tulane cross country program had a solid performance at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede. The men's team grabbed a third place finish with 71 points, behind McNeese State (27) and LSU (33), while the women's team compiled 69 points to place fourth, trailing Nicholls State (51), McNeese (53) and LSU (68).
As in the first two meets, Callahan led the way for the women's squad with a seventh place showing to grab her first career top-ten showing. She covered the five-kilometer course in 18:01 to post the fastest time for a rookie since the 2007 season. The Annapolis, Md. native lowered her time by one minute from the 5K race at the Georgia Invitational on Sept. 3 and today's McNeese Cowboy Stampede.
"I continue to be impressed with Paige (Callahan) and her ability to be a consistent leader for our team," said Tulane head coach Eric Peterson. "She has been our number one runner in all three races this season and she just keeps getting better. Six of our eight runners posted lifetime bests at the five-kilometer distance and they were all significant lifetime bests. Today our team was bolstered by the efforts from Katherine and Emmi. This was by far the strongest races that they've had all year and it looks like our team is improving week by week."
Catherine Crabtree also grabbed a top-ten showing on Saturday in Lake Charles, La. with an 18:21 showing, finishing tenth overall. The lead pack for the Green Wave all finished within 49-seconds of each other, with the fifth runner crossing the finish line just 1:19 after Callahan. Emmi Aguillard was the third finisher for TU and placed 13th in a time of 18:37 and Johanna Gretschel ran 18:50 over 5K to grab 18th place.
Sophomore Callie Turlington finished fifth on the Green Wave squad - 26th overall - and was followed by senior Jessica Dallager, with times of 19:20 and 19:28, respectively. Tavie Abell covered the 5K course in 20:04 and Cassie Campbell rounded out the Green Wave squad, clocking in at 21:25.
The men's race featured the steady combination of Brian Lozes and Max Millerleading the way and a pair of newcomers helped the men's squad to a third place team finish. Lozes ran 20:29 to lead the Olive and Blue and Miller came in just nine seconds behind he fellow senior at 20:38. The pack of Mark Manion,GeoffrEy Zelek, Mike Mainguy, Jordan Vance and Cody Gibbons all finished within 29-seconds of each other.
"This was the best (men's) team effort that we have had to this point all season. The race distance was a bit unusual, but it served us well because it gave our kids a chance to run a distance that is slightly shorter than what out conference championship distance will be and they handled it well. Brian (Lozes) led us, again, with a very strong performance up front. I was particularly pleased with the pack running efforts of our following five guys. Those runners did a really good job of grouping up and working together and that helped us produce a solid third place finish today."
"Our freshman group was good today, but Mark Manion was particularly impressive. He has had two really good weeks of practice since out last race in Houston and I am happy that he came through today with a big performance."
A freshman, Manion led the pack in 20:56, followed by fellow rookie Zelek in 21:02 and Mainguy, the other senior on the squad, in 21:14. Vance crossed the finish line in 21:17 and Gibbons, the third rookie runner, posted a time of 21:25.
"We are coming away from this meet feeling good about the results, from both a team and individual stand point. We will have two more weeks of training and are now setting our sites on continued improvement as we head into the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala. in two weeks."
The final tune-up before the postseason begins will come at the Crimson Classic on Saturday, October 15 at the Harry Pritchett Running Park on the University of Alabama campus. The men's race will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the women to run at 9:00 a.m.
Men's Team Scores
Rank - Team - Points
1. McNeese State - 27
2. LSU - 33
3. Tulane - 71
4. Louisiana-Lafayette - 122
5. Nicholls State - 145
6. Southeastern Louisiana - 149
7. Southern - 203
8. Southern - New Orleans - 225
Men's Finishers
Place/Adj. - Name - 4-mile Time
13/8 - Brian Lozes - 20:29
15/10 - Max Miller - 20:38
20/15 - Mark Manion - 20:56
23/18 - GeoffrEy Zelek - 21:02
25/20 - Mike Mainguy - 21:14
27/22 - Jordan Vance - 21:17
30/25 - Cody Gibbons - 21:25
43/-- - Michael Villasin - 22:38
Women's Team Scores
Rank - Team - Points
1. Nicholls State - 51
2. McNeese State - 53
3. LSU - 68
4. Tulane - 69
5. Southeastern Louisiana - 104
6. Louisiana-Lafayette - 170
7. Southern - New Orleans - 209
8. Southern - 233
Women's Finishers
Place/Adj. - Name - 5K Time
7/6 - Paige Callahan - 18:01 *
10/9 - Katherine Crabtree - 18:21 *
13/12 - Emmi Aguillard - 18:37 *
18/17 - Johanna Gretschel - 18:50
26/25 - Callie Turlington - 19:20
29/28 - Jessica Dallager - 19:28 *
38/36 - Tavie Abell - 20:04 *
49/-- - Cassie Campbell - 21:25 *