SU Cross Country team finish strong at McNeese

Lake Charles–The Southern University men and women’s cross country team may not have come out on top, but the women improved their time and the men topped a few of their past foes.
“We can see the results from the morning practice sessions,” said Johnny Thomas, SU cross country head coach.
On October 19, Southern ran in the McNeese Invitational. The meet was small with four female teams competing and five men teams running. The women ran three miles and the men ran five.
“We have our fourth runner now with Aisha Harris. Right now, we just need to develop that fifth runner and if we can do that we are going give somebody some trouble in the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship),” said Thomas.
The women got off to a good start with SU’s top three women Erikka Thomas, Rayla Hunt and Jovanni Anderson sticking close during most of the run.
“I feel that we are in good shape to win the SWAC. It is just a mental thing now; we have to want it as a team. We can compete with the competition,” said Erika Thomas.
Thomas continues to lead the women dropping her time, clocking in with the time of 20 minutes, 37.12 seconds.
We have been working hard. We run at six in the morning, three to four miles a day and it is really paying off. We are headed for SWAC,” said Aisha Harris.
Stepping up and showing great improvement was Hunt with time of 20:58.42 and Harris clocking in at 22:57.41. The Lady Jags placed fourth while Northwestern State University brought in third. The University of New Orleans took home second while everyone watched McNeese bring in first.
The men continued to speed up every week as well making the right adjustments for second place. The Jags placed second beating out third place Prairie View A&M University, fourth place University of New Orleans, and fifth place Northwestern State. But the winner of the meet was McNeese that Southern not able catch.
“When I caught up with Charles (Moon) we were just pushing each other to run hard. We ran together from the one-mile mark to the end. At the finish, my kick was just stronger,” said freshman Darnel Parker.
Stepping up and leading the men for the first time was Parker who placed seventh clocking in at 28:39.60 seconds. Following very closely in eighth place was Charles Moon, clocking in at 28:42.83.
The next meet, which is the last meet until the SWAC Championship, will be October 26, at Southeastern Louisiana University Invitational in Hammond.