Cross Country: Men Continue Success, Picking Up Another Meet Title 10/2/12

Cross Country: Men Continue Success, Picking Up Another Meet Title 10/2/12

LAFAYETTE – The impressive results continued to roll in for the Ragin’ Cajuns men’s cross country team and Anna Katherine Devitt continued to lead the women’s cross country team in the most recent outing held last Saturday in Lake Charles.
Louisiana took part in the McNeese Cowboy Cross Country Stampede at the Ward 3 Recreation Complex on Saturday, Sept. 29. The event was hosted by McNeese State and was the third outing of the 2012 season for UL.
For the second straight meet the Ragin’ Cajuns men claimed the team title. Led by freshman Matt Rice who placed fourth in the event with a time of 21:25 over the 4 mile course and two others in the Top 10 (Zach France and Cole Stafford), UL’s team total of 37 points bested McNeese State (44) by seven points and LSU (49) by 12 points.
The Cajuns best the host-McNeese Cowboys, who entered the race ranked seventh in the USTFCCCA South Central Region poll.
Rice bested his previous 4 mile time by nearly two full minutes (improved from a 23:03.63 clocking in season opener at Memphis). He helped UL claim the meet title for the second straight outing (Cajuns won Ragin’ Cajuns Invite on Sept. 14). The Baton Rouge native picked up his first team-leading effort of 2012 and second straight Top 5 finish.
Zach France was a mere one second behind Rice for the team lead, placing fifth overall with a time of 21:26. Cole Stafford wasn’t far behind, clocking in at 21:46 for ninth place.
Rice, France and Stafford were part of a group of only 11 runners that finished the 4 mile trek under 22 minutes.
France shaved a full minute off his Memphis Twlight 4 mile time, while Stafford also bumped up his 4 mile time by a minute (22:44.08 at Memphis).
Corbett Ourso (13^th, 22:15), Trey Bonin (14^th, 22:16) and Scott Brewster (24^th, 22:54.9) joined the aforementioned trio in the race’s Top 25.
Former Cajuns athlete Walter Whitfield ran unattached and placed second with a time of 21:08.
For the third straight meet, Devitt led the Cajuns’ women’s efforts. The true freshman from Baton Rouge narrowly missed finishing a 5K in less than 20 minutes for the second straight meet. Devitt clocked in at 20:01 and claimed 14^th place (ran 19:18.9 in Ragin’ Cajuns Invite on Sept. 14).
All of the Cajuns women completed the 5K trek in less than 22 minutes and each runner finished in the Top 25.
Ashley Irwin came in right behind Devitt at 20:23 for a 16^th place showing. Irwin missed her Ragin’ Cajuns Invite time, her season-best, by 16 seconds.
Jessica Donald, a freshman out of St. Michael’s in Baton Rouge, posted an improvement of 10 seconds going from 21:02.6 in the Ragin’ Cajuns Invite to 20:52 in Lake Charles. It marked the third straight meet that Donald posted a faster time.
Louisiana is less than a month away from the Sun Belt Conference championships in Bowling Green, Ky. The Cajuns have one more race before the SBC championships and it is set for Saturday, Oct. 13 in Fayetteville, Ark. (Chile Pepper Festival).
LAGNIAPPE: In each of the past two outings, the Cajuns men have had at least three runners finish in the Top 10…In the Ragin’ Cajuns Invite (Sept. 14), UL collected all of the Top 5 finishing times…The Cajuns men’s team total has been below 50 each of the past two outings (15 in Ragin’ Cajuns Invite, 37 at McNeese)…All of the Cajuns men improved upon their 4 mile time from the season opener at Memphis…For the second straight meet, Matt Rice, Zach France and Cole Stafford placed Top 10…The Cajuns women continue to make strides  a very youthful squad, as five of the six competitors at McNeese were true freshmen (sophomore Genevieve Roy is the lone non-freshman).
RAGIN’ CAJUNS MEN’S 4 MILE TIMES (37 runners)
4) Matt Rice (21:25)
5) Zach France (21:26)
9) Cole Stafford (21:46)
13) Corbett Ourso (22:15)
24) Scott Brewster (22:54.9)
26) Courtland Privat (23:11)
34) Patrick Spiller (24:24)
RAGIN’ CAJUNS WOMEN’S 5K TIMES (34 runners)
14) Anna Katherine Devitt (20:01)
16) Ashley Irwin (20:23)
21) Danielle Castaldi (20:50)
22) Jessica Donald (20:52)
24) Bree Fontenot (21:03)
25) Genevieve Roy (21:06)
— Ragin’ Cajuns —