The Lions cross country team kicked off the season with their first meet at the annual University of New Orleans Cross Country Opener on Friday, Sept. 1, hosted at New Orleans Lake Oaks Park. The Lady Lions finished fifth overall with the men claiming seventh for team rankings.

“The team has been working hard and I’d like to commend the team for the amount of chemistry and camaraderie that they’ve developed so far,” Assistant Track and Field coach Alex Paille said. “We have a very tight-knit group and this team wouldn’t be the same without every one of them.”

On the women’s side, freshman Nikola Vimmerová came across in 14:55.67 for the 4k and was the first Lady Lion of the day to cross the line. Following shortly after, freshman Ava Pitarro finished with a time of 16:07.86. The Green and Gold wrapped up scoring as Anthonate Barsai, Laney Wilkes and Jacqueline Thring finished as a pack. 

“I am really happy with how the season is going so far and right now what keeps me motivated is I want to improve with every race,” Vimmerová said.

The Lions were led by newcomer Euan Lagan finishing 19th overall in the men’s 5k race. Next to cross the line was freshman Joel Boerkey with a time of 17:28.03. 

The remainder of the Lions to finish were veterans Courtlin Baunchand and Landen Schillage, accompanied by newcomer Triston Watford.  

After a gap weekend, the Lions took on their second meet of the season at the LSU Invitational. Early Friday morning (Sept. 15), the Lions walked away with third in the team standings while the women finished fourth in the 5k competition. 

Lagan kicked off the day first in the men’s 6k with a top-five finish. Securing eleventh overall was junior Noah Kiprotich, who stopped the clock 13 seconds behind Lagan. 

The Lions continued rolling in as freshman Tim Anstett and Baunchand claimed 25th and 29th place. As Darian Chestnut stopped the clock at 21:51.8, the Lions claimed third with 94 total points. 

For the women’s race, Vimmerová came in 12th place with a time of 19:17.2. Barsai followed her up with a time of 21:56.5 and placed 27th. 33 seconds later, Wilkes finished with a time of 22:39 for 31st place. 

Graduate student Shanique Masters and Thring finished together with places of 34th and 35th place. Southeastern placed fourth in the meet with 112 total points, a top 5 finish from both teams in Baton Rouge.

“I couldn’t be happier with how Friday’s meet turned out. Everyone ran to their ability and it bagged us a third place finish on the men’s side. I also want to give a shoutout to our women’s squad, because we were short handed and a couple of them really stepped up in a major way to get a fourth place finish,” Paille added. 

The Lions have next weekend off before traveling to Thibodaux to run in the Nicholls Invitational at the Nicholls Farm on Saturday, Sept. 30. For more information and coverage, tune in to The Lion’s Roar Newsletter.