In their second meet of the 2008 season, the Nicholls cross country teams ran hard at the 20th annual Crimson Classic Invitational hosted by the University of Alabama. “Overall, our women’s team has a long way to go but we do have a very solid foundation in some of our front runners,” head coach Scott Williamson said. “We have some runners still dealing with injuries and we are just trying to get everyone healthy and in shape for the next meet.”

In the 5K run, the women’s team had two runners place in the top 25 with sophomore Lauren Jones finishing 22nd with a time of 19:13.40 and senior Charlotte Everhardt posting a time of 19:20.68 for 25th. Following Everhardt was sophomore Imma Kosgei in 58th with a posting of 21:51.14 and freshman Melissa Dencausse in 66th with a time of 22:47.43.

The women’s team was disqualified from placing in the final standings due to an injury which gave the Colonels four finishing runners, one short of the minimum qualifying rules.

In the 8K run, the men’s team finished ninth with 248 points. The young team was led by freshmen Justin Babin and Neal Fisher. Babin finished 52nd with a time of 29:13.23 while Fisher clocked in a time of 29:19.91 for the 53rd placing.

Rounding out the men’s runners was sophomore Logan Milano in 64th with a time of 30:15.55, sophomore Joby Fryou with a time 31:23.13, Karthik Rajendran clocking in a time of 35:56.94 for 76th, and lastly, freshman Phillip Grabert with a time of 36:33.22 for 77th.

The Colonels cross country teams will be back in action on Saturday, September 27 when they compete in the Southern Miss Invitational hosted by the USM in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The event is slated for all day.