Pieri, D'Souza lead XU runners in season opener
September 3, 2010

Results:  Men    Women

     HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Xavier University of Louisiana's Matt Pieri ran four miles in 22 minutes, 46.10 seconds Friday to place 11th out of 25 runners in the men's division of the season-opening Southern Miss Invitational cross country meet.
     Anna D'Souza led Xavier's women, running 5,000 meters in 23:09.02 to finish 16th out of 31.
     Pieri's time is his third fastest at that distance and No. 10 on XU's all-time list. Eight of the 12 fastest Gold Rush 4-mile times have been run at Tatum Park, USM's home course.
     Xavier scored 71 points to place third out of four men's teams and 106 points to finish fourth out of five women's teams. Both XU teams, who compete in the NAIA, finished ahead of NCAA Division I member Jackson State. The Gold Nuggets were 0-4 against JSU the past three seasons.
     Seven runners — Javon Mead and Charles Shaw on the men's team and Donyé Coleman, Rubeneisha Cooper, Sarah Guillory, Yazmin Ramirez and Dominique Webb on the women's — made their collegiate cross country debuts for Xavier. All are freshmen except for Cooper and Webb, who are sophomores.
     South Alabama's Mark Sullivan won the men's race in 20:58.97 and led the Jaguars to the team title with 18 points. Stephanie Ledgerwood of Southern Miss led the women in 19:02.40, and the Lady Golden Eagles won the team title with 24 points.
     Xavier's next meet will be the Radisson Hotel Wolfpack Classic on Sept. 11 at Lafreniere Park in suburban Metairie, La. It will be the only local appearance of the season for the Rush and Nuggets.