France Leads Men's Team Domination at Ragin' Cajuns Invite

Contact: Matt Hebert

Men's Individual Results | Men's Team Breakdown | Men's Team Scores
Women's Individual Results | Women's Team Breakdown | Women's Team Score

LAFAYETTE – A dominating performance by the Ragin' Cajuns men's cross country team and close second place finish for the Ragin' Cajuns women highlighted the 2012 Ragin' Cajuns Invitational meet held Friday evening at Acadiana Park.

Louisiana collected all Top 5 finishes on the men's side – all within one minute of each other – to easily outdistance Southern for the team championship. The Cajuns quintet of scorers accounted for 15 points, meanwhile Southern's second-place effort garnered 69 points.

Senior Zach France led the UL men's contingent with an 8K time of 26:25.5 which landed him the individual title in the event for the second straight season.

France was followed by the Cajuns heralded freshmen grouping of Cole Stafford (2^nd – 26:53.0), Matthew Rice (3^rd – 27:06.2), Lafayette's own Trey Bonin (4^th – 27:06.9) and Corbett Ourso (5^th – 27:13.1) in accounting for the Cajuns team score.

UL's Scott Brewster (27:34.9) claimed sixth place and Patrick Spiller finished seventh (29:08.6).

The first non-Cajun on the men's side to count toward scoring was Southern's Willie Williams who came in eighth with a time of 29:16.4.

To take Louisiana's domination even further, the grouping that claimed the Top 5 spots all finished two minutes faster than the highest-finishing non-UL athlete.

“It turned out to be a really great meet for us,” head coach Lon Badeaux said. “All of our athletes improved significantly from the first meet. On this tough course, for our men to run that fast as a group and for Anna Katherine to register the time she did was pleasing.”

On the women's side, the Ragin' Cajuns were edged by Nicholls State as the Colonels were able to grab three of the Top 5 times. Nicholls accrued 25 points, just ahead of Louisiana's 31 points.

Anna Katherine Devitt led the charge in the women's 5K for the hosts with a second-place effort of 19:18.9. Devitt (Baton Rouge/Christian Life) easily bested her 5K time of 21:34.72 in the season opener at Memphis. She led the Cajuns women for the second straight outing.

Ashley Irwin joined Devitt in the Top 5 clocking in at 20:07.3 for a fifth place finish.

Nicholls State's Tessni Carruthers finished in front of Devitt for the individual women's title with a time of 18:24.6.

Danielle Castaldi (7^th – 20:36.9), Bree Fontenot (8^th – 20:24.6) and Genevieve Roy (9^th – 20:50.8) were the other three runners to count toward the Cajuns team total.

The Cajuns men's Top 5 times totaled 2:14.44.9 in the 8K trek. The Cajuns women's Top 5 times added up to 1:41.39.8 in the 5K course.

Louisiana enjoys another two-week break in competition and begins focusing on the Sun Belt Conference meet set for Saturday, Oct. 27. In the next outing, the Ragin' Cajuns travel to Lake Charles for the McNeese Cowboy Stampede on Saturday, Sept. 29.

“We are now at that crucial point in training where we actually start looking down the road and begin preparing for our conference meet,” Badeaux said. “They should have had their heaviest legs here. I expect to run even faster at McNeese and really get tested at the Chile Pepper Festival. That will give us a good barometer to judge from heading into the conference meet.”

For all of the latest news and information on Ragin' Cajuns Athletics, visit RaginCajuns.com. Fans can also follow the athletics department on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/ULRaginCajuns along with @ULRaginCajuns on Twitter.

RAGIN' CAJUNS MEN'S 8K TIMES
1) Zach France (26:25.5)
2) Cole Stafford (26:53.0)
3) Matthew Rice (27:06.2)
4) Trey Bonin (27:06.9)
5) Corbett Ourso (27:13.1)
6) Scott Brewster (27:34.9)
7) Patrick Spiller (29:08.6)
9) Courtland Privat (29:53.5)
10) Willie Allen (32:40.0)

RAGIN' CAJUNS WOMEN'S 5K TIMES
2) Anna Katherine Devitt (19:18.9)
5) Ashley Irwin (20:07.3)
7) Danielle Castaldi (20:36.9)
8) Bree Fontenot (20:45.6)
9) Genevieve Roy (20:50.8)
10) Jessica Donald (21:02.6)
16) Kara Martin (24:42.0)

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

France Leads Men's Team Domination at Ragin' Cajuns Invite

Next Event

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics