LOUISVILLE – The New Orleans Cross Country program shined on one of the biggest stages of the sport this season as the men's and women's teams toed the line at the Live in Lou Classic, hosted at the prestigious and championship-tested E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park on Saturday morning. The men raced out to a 13th-place finish while the women battled to 24th-place showing in one of the most highly attended college cross events in the United States.
To put things into perspective, the Men's 8K Gold Race featured 10 nationally-ranked programs by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) across NCAA and NAIA levels, while the Women's 5K Gold Race consisted of 14 nationally-ranked schools including No. 8 Michigan, No. 26 Wisconsin and NCAA DII No. 1 Grand Valley State.
"I am so proud of the way the men and women handled the step up in competition and competed today," associate head coach
Brock Moreaux said. "Ariana stepped up big time for the women and I was pumped to see her crack that 18-minute barrier for the first time. As a team, we made a great step forward from our LSU meet, which is always the goal."
"The Top-4 men packed up really well and ran phenomenal," Moreaux added when reflecting on his men's group. "It was also a great debut at 8K for the freshman Jose and Gary."
"There can be a lot of stresses and distractions when traveling to big races like this and they handled it like veterans," Moreaux concluded. "The overall atmosphere and vibes as a team this weekend was an awesome experience. We are excited to take this fitness and energy to Birmingham next."
THE BASICS
RESULTS: Men: 13th (444 points) | Women: 24th (695 points)
MEET: Live in Lou Cross Country Classic
LOCATION: E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park – Louisville, Ky.
NOTABLES
- The New Orleans men got the day started with the 8K Gold Race where they placed four student-athletes in the Top-68 of the meet as
Kolyn Saltzman (49th - 24:24.2),
Alec Snell (62nd - 24:35.5),
Jaden Forester (63rd - 23:36.5) and
Cade Litolff (68th - 24:38.2) led the way for the Privateers. The top four runners all finished within 14 seconds of each other, which cements a strong group for the Privateers to add one more low stick to as they head to the championship season.
-
Gary Sandrock (202nd - 26:19.4),
Alex Soileau (215th - 26:3.3) and
Jose Rodriguez (218th - 26:35.3) rounded out the New Orleans attack as the group battled from 19th-place at the halfway point of the race to improve six spots over the final 4K to take 13th overall.
- The men finished ahead of squads from Ohio (MAC), South Alabama (Sun Belt), DePaul (Big East), Memphis (American) and Marquette (Big East), amongst others.
- The women's group toed the line next and got a standout performance from its top-3 of
Ariana Jimenez,
Alexandra Weir and
Arina Kleshchukova. All three Privateers finished in the Top-87 of the 5K Gold Race as Jimenez paced the group in 56th (17:41.3), Weir was right behind in 80th (18:01.5) and Kleshchukova claimed 87th (18:04.2).
- The rest of the New Orleans attack consisted of
Anna Dohmen (230th - 19:09.5),
Allie Louis (242nd - 19:22.0),
Anna Martin (257th - 19:28.8) and
Jade Talazac (292nd - 20:15.2).
- The UNO women's squad ran down teams from App State (Sun Belt), DePaul (Big East), Memphis (American) and Western Kentucky (Conference USA), amongst others.
- Five Privateer men (Snell, Forester, Litolff, Sandrock and Rodriguez) and six Privateer women (Jimenez, Weir, Dohmen, Louis, Martin and Talazac) set their new personal best at the 8K and 5K distance, respectively, with their performances today.
NEXT UP
New Orleans will return home for training to get ready for the upcoming Blazer Invitational, hosted by UAB, set for Saturday, Oct. 16. It will be the last regular-season meet of the season before the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships on Friday, Oct. 29.
NEW ORLEANS MEN'S RESULTS
49.
Kolyn Saltzman – 24:24.2
62.
Alec Snell – 24:35.5*
63.
Jaden Forester – 23:36.5*
68.
Cade Litolff – 24:38.2*
202.
Gary Sandrock – 26:19.4*
215.
Alex Soileau – 26:33.3
218.
Jose Rodriguez – 26:35.3*
NEW ORLEANS WOMEN'S RESULTS
56.
Ariana Jimenez – 17:41.3*
80.
Alexandra Weir – 18:01.5*
87.
Arina Kleshchukova – 18:04.2
230.
Anna Dohmen – 19:09.5*
242.
Allie Louis – 19:22.0*
257.
Anna Martin – 19:28.8*
292.
Jade Talazac – 20:15.2*
(* - New Personal Best)
