XU's Jackson, Pieri collect GCAC's weekly awards

Zahri Jackson NEW ORLEANS — League cross country champions Zahri Jackson and Matt Pieri of Xavier University of Louisiana are the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Runners of the Week for Oct. 15-21. It's the third time this season that each was honored.   Jackson, a sophomore from Kingwood, Texas, and a graduate of Kingwood Park High School, tied a GCAC women's career record with her eighth weekly award. She shares the mark with Kate Imwalle of former member Spring Hill. Pieri's award is his 13th, which extends his GCAC record. No other GCAC male has won more than five times.      Jackson repeated as GCAC individual champion Saturday in Clinton, Miss. She ran 5,000 meters in 18 minutes, 54.69 seconds to break her school record by nearly 21 seconds. The time was the second fastest at the GCAC Championships since 1998.   Matt Pieri Pieri, a senior from New Orleans and a graduate of Brother Martin High School, won the GCAC individual title for the second time in three years. He ran 8,000 meters in 26:54.21 — the fastest at this meet since 2003. His winning margin of nearly 45 seconds was larger than the previous four GCAC Championships combined. Pieri was All-GCAC for the fourth straight year and never finished lower than fourth in this event.      Both the Gold Nuggets and the Gold Rush recorded the first perfect team scores at the GCAC Championships since 1996. Both won team championships for the seventh consecutive year.      Both XU teams will conclude the season Nov. 17 in the NAIA National Championships at Vancouver, Wash. The Nuggets and Rush qualified for nationals for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in five seasons.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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