Nuggets win team scoring at Allstate Sugar Bowl meet

XULA women's cross country wins team scoring at Allstate Sugar Bowl meet
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METAIRIE, Louisiana — Xavier University of Louisiana's women's cross country team won a team title Saturday in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Festival at Lafreniere Park.
    
The Gold Nuggets, led by freshman Brianna Pace, scored 17 points to easily win the non-NCAA Division I championship over four teams, including three city rivals. Meet host Loyola was second with 58 points, followed by Spring Hill with 62, Dillard with 111 and SUNO with 112.
    
Pace finished 11th out of 59 runners in a race which included NCAA Division I's LSU and Mississippi Valley State. She ran 5,000 meters in a season-best 21 minutes, 49.3 seconds and finished ahead of 15 runners from DI.

Results:  Men    Women
    
The Gold Nuggets won a team title in this meet for the second consecutive year. The XU women have won 23 team championships during Joseph Moses' 11 seasons as head coach.
    
In the men's division, Xavier scored 68 points to place third out of five non-DI teams. Spring Hill won with 45 points, and Loyola was second with 52. Xavier finished ahead of SUNO (76) and Dillard (94) and gained significant separation against the Bleu Devils, who lost by three points to the Gold Rush in the Big Easy Opener Aug. 28.
    
Christopher August ran the 5K in 18:09 to place 20th out of 53 runners. He has been the first Gold Rush finisher in all three meets this season. Teammate Brent Kitto was 21st in 18:14.1.
    
Also finishing for the XU women were Briana Simms (17th, 22:16.4), Zahri Jackson (18th, 22:36.9), Dionysia Love (19th, 22:40.8), Hannah Finnegan (24th, 23:44.8), Kailey Williams (32nd, 25:07.4) and Clarke Allen (40th, 27:19.8). Jackson's and Simms' times were season bests for them.
    
The other Gold Rush runners were Darrick Williams (30th, 19:43.5), Xaiver Latting (49th, season-best 23:28.7) and Felipe Perrier (50th, season-best 23:40.5).
    
The appearance of Xavier, SUNO and Dillard — all longtime Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rivals — likely will be the only time that this many GCAC members compete against each other this season. The GCAC is not an NAIA automatic-qualifying conference in cross country in 2015, and Xavier and Dillard will compete in November for berths to nationals as affiliate members of the Red River Athletic Conference.
    
The victories Saturday against SUNO and Dillard improved Xavier's men to 78-0 against GCAC opponents since the start of the 2007 season and Xavier's women to 39-0 against the GCAC since the start of the 2010 season.
    
LSU had both individual winners — Morgan Schuetz (19:40.6) in the women's race and Braxton Dajour (16:11.0) in the men's. Both LSU teams produced perfect scores in winning the DI team titles.
    
Xavier's next competition will be next Saturday (Sept. 19) in the LSU Invitational at Highland Road Park in Baton Rouge, La.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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