NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans Cross Country team ran well, and Alexandra Weir posted a top-20 finish at the North Alabama Showcase in a crowded and competitive field on Friday morning.
Alex led the way for UNO finishing her 5K race in 16th place out of the 384 women's runners. The Toronto native finished her race with a time 17:11.24 after splits of 5:22.9 and 11:06.6.
The junior's second phase of the race had moved her up 13 spots - from 23rd to 10th place - heading into the final stretch. Weir's final time was the third-fastest women's 5K in school history, and the fastest since Michaela Mannova finished with a 17:06.89 in the 2000 Crimson Classic.
Rebecca DeKay (29th), Ariana Jimenez (51st), and Tshwanelo Maruping (82nd) all finished top-100 for the New Orleans women with times of 17:32.69, 17:56.87, 18:20.30 respectively. Mathilde Helms-Kaejer and Anna Martin just missed top-100 finishes with times of 18:30.46 and 18:32.75.
The Privateer women finished in 11th place overall (out of 39) with a total of 269 points, just a single point shy of a top-10 finish. As a squad the UNO women were as high as 8th place after the 1.6K mark. Weir, DeKay, Martin and Michelle Folk all set new personal bests in the 5K.
On the men's side Kolyn Saltzman finished in 36th out of 360 male runners after crossing the finish line with a time of 24:26.93. The junior now holds five of the top six men's times in school history at 8,000 meters.
Jaden Forester finished in 50th place after clocking in at 24:35.53 – the seventh-best mark in school history. Cade Litolff and Ryan Guenthner both finished just outside the top-100 with times of 25:15.62 and 25:20.13.
The Privateer men finished in 14th (out of 37 teams) with a point total of 384. Sophomore Gary Sandrock and junior Alex Soileau both set new personal bests in the 8K on Friday morning.
Alabama won the both the men's and women's team events. Perri Bockrath of Kentucky was the individual women's winner with a time of 16:24.54, while Crimson Tide runner Victor Kiprop was the men's individual winner at 23:18.30.
New Orleans returns to action next Friday when they make the short trip to Baton Rouge for the LSU Invitational at the University Club of Baton Rouge. The men will run a 6K at 8:15 a.m. with the women set to run their second-straight 5K around 9:00 a.m.
INDIVIDUAL MEN'S RESULTS
36 Kolyn Saltzman 24:25.89
50 Jaden Forester 24:35.53
109 Cade Litolff 25:15.62
115 Ryan Guenthner 25.20.13
147 Gary Sandrock 25:48.66*
182 Alex Soileau 26:22.54*
214 Mason Appleton 26:49.03
265 Antonio Delgado 27:51.68
334 Antonio Sanchez 31:01.54
*new personal best in the 8K
INDIVIDUALÂ WOMEN'S RESULTS
16 Alexandra Weir 17:11.24*
29 Rebecca DeKay 17:32.69*
51 Ariana Jimenez 17:56.87
82 Tshwanelo Maruping 18:20.30
104 Mathilde Helms-Kjaer 18:30.46
107 Anna Martin 18:32.75*
126 Michelle Folk 18:40.05*
198 Oxana Bonjorn-Giros 19:21.25
222 Holly Hedrick 19:34.98
*new personal best in the 5K.
HEAD COACH BROCKÂ MOREAUX
"I was really pleased with the performances from both teams today. What we look for at this time of the year is consistency with room to grow. I really feel that we nailed that today. Kolyn and Jaden ran really strong up front and it was nice to have Ryan back in the rotation. Alex and Rebecca ran phenomenal races today and it was great to have Ariana back in the mix as well. We'll work to tighten up that top 4-5-6-7 range over the next few weeks to make ourselves into a pair of teams that are hard to beat."
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