The Colonels men and women’s cross country teams will host the second annual Colonel Invitational across from Barker Hall Saturday at 10 a.m.
The Colonel Invitational is the last warm-up event for the cross country team before the Southland Conference Championship in Huntsville, Texas on Nov. 1.
Aside from the Colonels men and women’s cross country teams, the University of New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana University will also compete in the Colonel Invitational.
Since this is the only cross country or track and field event hosted at Nicholls, the cross country team said it is excited with the chance to run on home turf for a chance.
“Everyone can come see us run locally, so we hope to see some people come out and support the cross country team,” freshman cross country runner Loretta Gibson said. “We’ve practiced hard every day, and we are gradually getting better. Everybody has been improving every week, so our work ethic is paying off.”
Senior cross country runner Farren Clark said, “This race coming up is definitely a good preparation, and we would like to see some people out there.”
Both the men and women’s cross country teams competed in the Sam Houston State Pre-Invitational held at the Raven’s Nest Golf Course this past weekend in Huntsville, Texas.
The teams competing against the Colonels were: Sam Houston State, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Tulane, the University of Texas, North Texas, Texas State, Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin, Lamar University and Prairie View University.
On the women’s side, the Colonels placed eighth with 205 total points. Tulane won the event with 38 total points, McNeese finished second with 75 points and Lamar finished third with 82 points.
Junior Cassie Jones placed 11 with a time of 18:35. Junior Kim Prestenbach finshed 49 with a time of 19:31, senior Caroline Hulden placed 79 with a time of 21:35 and junior Jenny Willie placed 86 with a time of 24:38.
Other Colonels runners included Henrietta Walker, who placed 87 with a time of 26:20. Sophomore Ashley Trosclair rounded out the field with an 88 place finish and a time of 29:53.
Agapius Amo, head cross country coach, said he is happy with the production from the women.
“The women have been running pretty good, especially Cassie who is our leader. She ran good last week and had a new personal best time,” Amo said. “If we had about three more Cassie’s here, we would be happy.”
Although the course at Sam Houston was filled with hills, Jones said she was pleased with her time.
“I am pretty happy with the pre-Conference meet. It was a pretty tough course, but overall I am pretty happy with how I ran and competed with the girls there,” Jones said.
Prestenbach said Amo’s experience in long distance running has helped the team this season.
“Coach Amo definitely has been in long distance other than former Coach (Matt) Pantusa, who was a hurdles coach. We definitely have a good coach as far as distance goes because he knows what we are talking about and how we feel while running,” Prestenbach said.
Despite being a sprinter instead of a long distance runner, Walker said she is going to give it her all in cross country.
“It’s really hard because I am not used to doing this,” Walker said. “With me being just a sprinter and coming out here and running three miles, I am not used to that. So it takes dedication, and it is hard work, but anybody can do it if I can.”
On the men’s side, senior Farren Clark led the Colonels with a 36 overall finish and a time of 28:41. Freshman Jeff Draggich finished 16 spots back at 52 with a time of 28:54, freshman Josh Chauvin finished 92 with a time of 32:29 and sophomore Andre Ory finished 94 with a time of 32:36.
Although it took him a while to get going, Clark said he is happy with his finish.
“I thought I waited a little while to make my move. I relaxed on the first two miles and gradually it picked up,” Clark said. “The conditions were great, and it was nice in Texas. I think we all did well out there.”
Ory said the Sam Houston meet is a huge advantage in preparation for the Southland Conference meet because it enables the team to get a feel for running on hills.
“That race actually helped us out a lot because we know what to expect in conference,” Ory said. “We know that we have to go find some hills somewhere in Thibodaux to run up and down and practice a little harder the next couple of weeks so we can come out better in conference.”