Louisiana Monroe Press Release:
Mutai and Sason Lead Cross Country at Warhawk Invitational
MONROE, La.- In an impressive display of pack running, the ULM men swept the top three places at the Warhawk Invitational en route to posting victories over both Grambling State and Northwestern State at Selman Park.
Senior Daniel Mutai led the way with an individual meet victory, running an 8k time of 28:16. The win was Mutai's second of the week, as he combined with junior Hillary Kirwa to win the McNeese Relays on Tuesday. Kirwa, who was edged by Mutai at the finish line, posted a second place showing with a time of 28:17. ULM sophomore Silah Chumba notched a third place finish by recording a 28:18. Seniors Britt Koestler (5th, 29:15) and Devin Caldwell (17th, 34:06) finished the scoring for the home team.
The home meet functioned as a workout for the Warhawk men, as they were racing for the second time in four days. The majority of the race featured the top four ULM runners taking turns leading the front pack. Mutai, a two-time NCAA national meet qualifier, pulled away from the others in the final straightaway.
"We tried to get a good tempo run in today," said cross country head coach Karoly Varga. "It is still early in the season, and we have had a hard last couple weeks so we accomplished what we wanted to today. We are happy with the results of the first two meets."
The ULM women had an impressive showing as well, as senior Sharon Sason and sophomore Anakaren Lopez led the Warhawks to victory over Grambling State. Sason, who combined with Lopez to record a ninth place finish at the season opener Tuesday, finished second overall in a time of 21:12. Lopez, who ran with Sason most of the race, covered the 5k course in 21:26 in an impressive third place showing.
Sophomores Bethany Koestler and Teona Glave were the third and fourth place finishers for the Warhawks, finishing ninth and 10th respectively. Freshman Rebecca Dark was right behind the duo, as she finished off the team scoring with an 11th place finish.
Northwestern Press Release:
Emory covered the 5,000-meter course in 20:33. Not far behind were teammates Karensa Ellis (fifth, 22:00), Becca Meehan (seventh, 22:29) and Ali Fontenot (eighth, 22:43).
Other Lady Demon finishers, places and times were Erin Knox, 14th, 24:53; Mya Robertson, 15th, 24:58; and Tammy Taylor, 17th, 26:20.
The Lady Demons were overall champions, winning their dual competitions 26-29 over host ULM and 24-32 over Grambling.
For the Demons, freshman Mitch Landry was again the fastest finisher, taking fourth behind three ULM runners with a 28:30 time over 8,000 meters. Teammate Alex Hebert ran sixth in 29:28 while NSU's John Broughton took 10th in 30:40.
Other NSU men and their places and times: Albert Gladney, 11th, 31:55; Matt Rodell, 12th, 32:15; Chris Lanier, 15th, 32:43; and Cody Wager,16th, 33:30.
The Demons were outpaced by ULM 23-34 and by Grambling 25-30.
"We went into this meet approaching it as a workout against Grambling and ULM, and we weren't focused on team scoring but how we ran as teams. The results don't reflect what we hoped," said cross country coach Adam Malloy. "It was a decent day, something to build upon. We're getting to where we need to be but we're not there yet.
"Hopefully we will take a good step forward next weekend," he said. "We'll be better because of today's experience."
Next Saturday morning, the NSU men and women run at the Mook 4 Invitational hosted by Louisiana Tech in Ruston.