Sept. 24, 2007

BATON ROUGE, La. - Nicholls women's cross country made progress in the LSU Cross Country Festival on Saturday as sophomore Michaela Guidry placed 14th out of 53 runners, while freshman Brandon Kotzur for the men finished 17th to highlight the Colonels outing.

"We are improving and just like last weekend at the Crimson Classic, we got a chance to compete against SEC caliber runners," said head coach Scott Williamson. "I am proud of them and know that we are getting better as a team."

Guidry clocked out with a time of 23:23.91 on way to placing the highest of all Lady Colonel runners at 14th with senior Eunice Jepkogei and junior Charlotte Everhardt being the next closest at 26th and 27th. Jepkogei finished with a time of 25:06.12 and Everhardt turned in a 25:13.19 showing. Rounding out the Lady Colonels runners was sophomore Marion Chebet at 35 by posting a 26:25.01 time while freshman Kadi Whisnant finished 41st by ringing up a time of 27:52.17. The Lady Colonels placed sixth in the cross country festival as a team.

Nicholls men's cross country team was unable to place as a team due to not having a full squad because of injuries, but the four that suited up did not disappoint as two of them finished in the Top 25 in the 8k race. Kotzur finished 17th with a time of 28:26.05 and freshman Brandon Loupe crossed the finish line soon after in 23rd place with a time of 29:07.12. Freshman Logan Milano finished 32nd with a 30:58.93 showing, and freshman Phillip Culotta rounded out the Colonels with a 37:53.43 time to place him 42nd.

The Colonels cross country teams will be back in action on Saturday October 6 as they travel to Memphis, Tennessee to participate in the Memphis Twilight hosted by the University of Memphis.