THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University cross country teams excelled at the LSU XC Invitational on Friday, Sept. 16. Both the men's and women's teams placed 2nd overall and had a combined seven runners place in the top 20 of their respective races.
Leading the way for the women's side was freshman
Kassidy Besson. Besson finished 7th overall with an impressive time of 18:29.90 in the women's 5k race. The next Colonel to cross the finish line was fellow freshman
Maria Nikolaou, finishing in 10th place with a time of 19:12.00. The third Colonel to finish in the top 20 was
Kalin Baratka, earning herself 18th place with a time of 20:20.20.
The men's unit saw similar success with multiple Colonel's shining and earning themselves a top 20 finish.
Lucas Futey crossed the finish line first, collecting 13th place in a time of 19:15.80 in the men's 6k race. The next finisher for the Red & Gray was
Avery Morgan, the freshman came in 15th place with a time of 19:56.00.
Goran Duijsters finished the course in 20:05.00 to take home 17th and
William Bellina came in 20th, running the course in 20:11.20.
Head Coach
Stefanie Slekis commented on her team's performance.
"We did exactly what we wanted to come to do, we had our top two on each side mix it up in the top 10-15, that was our big goal to run with LSU up front the best we could"
Slekis shared her views on what the team has to do to prepare for the next race.
"We have to keep staying consistent, we have some key workouts coming up and we have to trust that our fitness will continue to pan out. We have a really special team because they want it every week, so it's very exciting."
Coach Slekis gave her thoughts on the upcoming home meet.
"We're bringing in some good D-I teams to race against and put on a show at our home invitational."
UP NEXT
The Colonels will host the annual Nicholls XC Invitational at Nicholls Farm on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 8 a.m.
STAY SOCIAL
For more information on Colonels Track & Field/Cross Country, follow the team on Twitter (@Nicholls_XCTF), Instagram (@nichollstfxc), and like their Facebook page (Nicholls Athletics).
