NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Lamar University women's cross-country team opened its 2024 season with a flourish as they took first place at the Battle for New Orleans. Behind four top 10's, including two in the top five, the Cardinals tallied 32 points, which was 12 points ahead of host school New Orleans.
Running in the 4K to open the meet,
Nia Clatworthy led the way for LU to finish third overall with 14:25.68 but was the first affiliated runner to cross the line as the first and second-place finishers were unattached.
Cara Inch followed Clatworthy with a time of 14:42.13 while
Annabel Hobday ran eighth at 14:50.74. In her Cardinals' debut,
Inca Padfield ran a time of 14:53.23 seconds, which put her in ninth place.
Mykayla Mims (15:33.01) and
Ashton Rainey (15:33.98) added to LU's strong day placing in the top 20 with finishes of 18th and 19th respectively. Also making her Cardinals' debut was
Emma Powell (15:49.66), who came within three seconds of cracking the top 25.
Natalee Bergeron ran 38th at 16:57.33
Meanwhile, the men's team had six runners in the top 20 to help them get second place in the 5K with 50 points.
Freddy Richardson led the way with a new personal best 15:09.06 to get him ninth place.
Jonathan Rivera (15:19.81),
Riley Trent (15:21.77) and
Lloyd Sheppard-Brown (15:22.4) took the 11th through 13th places respectively.
Alexis Rodriguez (15:28.72) crossed the line in 16th while
Adrian Hahn Vadstein (15:47.56) was 19th. Freshman
Brian Woolums took 26th at 15:57.31.
Aaron Saenz ran in 35th at 16:36.42 before
Treyton Showen completed LU's event in 48th (17:26.87).
The Cardinals' next meet will take place on Sep. 28
th at Oklahoma State's Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla.
