BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University's cross country mens kicked off their 2023 season by hosting the Early Bird Opener for the first time in program history. In the end, LU would have a total of three top-10 finishes combined between the men's and women's squad and would put up a solid performance amongst the five-teams competing. 

The women ran first at 6:30 p.m. and with a total of 68 points finished fourth place. In her first meet as a Cardinal, Ashton Rainey claimed a top-five finish by placing fifth with a time of 14:08.85. Three spots behind and LU's second women's top-10 finisher was Mykayla Mims (14:23.01). Nia Clatworthy took 12th at 14:34.82 while Lauren Baur finished one spot ahead of the top 25 to clock in at 15:15.70. Hailey Cleggett (30th; 15:59.21) and Natalee Bergeron (34th; 16:36.36) would round out the women's runners in the meet.

30 minutes after the women began their race, it was the men's team who started their run. Ultimately, they would earn third with 72 points. Jonathan Rivera was the top male Cardinal to cross the line coming in at 18:13.46 to earn ninth. In his first meet, Adrian Hahn Vadstein was one spot off of the top 10 as he clocked in at 18:17.74. Geovany Cisneros took a top-15 finish as his 14th place time was 18:30.85 while Riley Trent cracked the top 20 at 18:51.69 for 19th. Hayden Eubank (19:12.11) and Ryan Servantes (19:12.71) were six-tenths off each other to finish 27th and 28th respectively. Aaron Saenz ended his run 39th at 19:44.91 while Raul Lopez was 47th at 20:32.73. 

LU will travel to Houston to run in the Rice Invitational next Friday. 

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