PINE BLUFF, ARK.- The Southern University men and women’s cross-country team started their season opener on top by winning first place last Saturday at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Cross Country Classic.
“This was our first meet and they all came out and ran the way we asked them to run and finished as a group,” said Jaguars Cross Country Head Coach Johnny Thomas.
The women won with a total of 38 points as Pine Bluff placed second with 41. Mississippi Valley State followed with 48 to get third place, and Alcorn received fourth place with 68 points.
“I was overly pleased for several reasons with the ladies and mildly disappointed with Rayla Hunt,” said Thomas. “Overall, the women came out and performed well.
The women ran a 2.5-mile course. Leading was Erikka Thomas placing first, clocking in at 13 minutes, 28 seconds and placing sixth was Rayla Hunt clocking at 14:03.92.
“Our workouts are helping. We did better than expected and now we just need to work on breaking the pack,” said Thomas.
Jovanni Anderson came sixth at 14:09.14, running on an injured foot. But as an incoming freshman, she showed her teammates that she had heart. Brandi Angrum placed 11th overall, running a time of 14:59.41, and Natosha Bradshaw came in 13th place, clocking in at 15:05.04.
Southern men went in gunning for the sweep and missed the perfect score of 15 points by one. Hosting team UAPB placed second with 49 and MVSU placed third with 70. The 3.5-mile course was led by team captain Charles Moon, who placed first, clocking in at17:18.86.
” The men did what we expected. Darnell Parker and Anthony Lee both did an outstanding job,” Thomas said.
Jaguar Murray Guillory placed second with a clocked time of 17:51.55.
The third person to come in was Jaguar freshman Darnell Parker, clocking a time of 17:52.41. Fourth, sixth and seventh were Jags Clary Reed, Korey Crump and Anthony Lee, respectively.
The next meet will be a much more competitive meet. The Jaguars will meet in Lafayette for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Invitational Saturday at 9:30.a.m.
