The women's two-mile race will start at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's 5,000-meter race at 6. The start and finish will be near the intersection of Wisner Boulevard and Harrison Avenue. The course is approximately three miles from the XU campus.
Joseph Moses, in his 11th year as head coach, has five returning all-conference runners and several talented newcomers on his teams.
"We have a good nucleus of experienced runners," Moses said. "Our newcomers will be fine when they make the adjustment to training and competing at the college level. That will happen sooner than later."
Back for the Gold Rush are senior Brent Kitto and junior Christopher August, both two-time All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference runners. Both have a pair of top-5 finishes in the GCAC meet, with August finishing second a year ago. A third returning letterman is sophomore Xaiver Latting.
The Gold Nuggets' returnees are Zahri Jackson — the GCAC individual champion in 2011 and 2012 — and three-time All-GCAC runners Briana Simms and Hannah Finnegan, who placed second at conference in 2014. Jackson is a fifth-year senior who was hampered by injuries the past two years.
The XU men's newcomers are freshmen Felipe Perrier and Darrick Williams. There are three freshmen on the women's team — Chinyere Jones, Dionysia Love and Brianna Pace — and track letterwomen Clarke Allen and Kailey Williams, competing for XU in the fall for the first time, give the Gold Nuggets additional depth.
"We lost some all-time greats like Kwame Jackson and Catherine Fakler to graduation, but our runners this year are focused on making a name for themselves and adding to our tradition," Moses said.
Kwame Jackson, the older brother of Zahri, is the only GCAC runner to win three individual conference championships in cross country. He set XU records in 2014 for four miles (21 minutes, 21.7 seconds) and 5,000 meters (15:30.90). Fakler was the GCAC individual champion in 2013 and was first-team Capital One Academic All-America® as a senior. Fakler holds XU records for 6,000 meters (24:07.38), 5,000 meters (18:08.32), 4,000 meters (15:34) and two miles (12:42.18).
The Big Easy Opener is the first of five regular-season meets for Xavier. The conference home for the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets this year is the Red River Athletic, and Xavier will compete Nov. 6 in San Antonio, Texas, for honors in that league and automatic berths to the NAIA National Championships. The GCAC, Xavier's home since 1981, will not qualify for automatic bids to nationals in cross country this year and will not conduct a conference meet.
Both XU teams were GCAC champions each of the past nine seasons.
"We look forward to competing in the Red River and seeing how we stack up against those teams," Moses said.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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