Cross country runs in LSU Invitational

The Nicholls State University cross country program participated in the LSU Invitational at
Highland Road Park in Baton Rouge on Saturday.

Head coach Stefanie Slekis said that she noticed a lot of improvement from her team in their
second invitational of the season.

“Our top three men ran 6-17 seconds faster average pace per mile, so that was a big
improvement,” Slekis said.

Both teams finished ahead of Xavier University of Louisiana and Alcorn State University in their
respective divisions. The men finished eighth overall and the women finished sixth overall in the
competition.

Senior Hannah Naquin was the star for the Colonels, finishing 16th overall in the women’s 5K
run with a time of 19:19.9. Naquin improved from her 5K run from two weeks ago at the UNO
Invitational, where she finished 18th overall with a time of 20:50.46.

The rest of the women’s team consisted of freshman Eleana Callejas (30th with 21:25.8), redshirt
junior Courtney Troxclair (38th with 22:34.9), redshirt junior Taylor Douglas (41st with 23:16.5)
and senior Lucija Barac (45th with 24:17.3).

Freshman John Paul Spera led the men’s team, finishing 41st overall in the men’s 6K run with a
time of 20.19.9. Spera ran a 5K time of 18:30.39 at the UNO Invitational and finished first on his
team for the second race in a row.

The remainder of the team included redshirt freshman Trey Lowery (42nd with 20:21.4),
sophomore Teril Cooper (51st with 22:38.5), freshman Tristan Breaux (53rd with 23:06.2) and
sophomore Daryl Cooper (60th with 27:46.5).

Slekis said she is excited to have two weeks of preparation for their next contest at the McNeese
Cowboy Stampede. The race will be on Sept. 30 at Enos Derbonne Multisports Complex,
starting with the women at 8:45 a.m. and the men at 9:15 a.m.