Xavier runners drop times to close the regular season
October 22, 2010

Results:  Men    Women

     NATCHITOCHES, La. — Xavier University of Louisiana's Matt Pieri ran three miles in 16 minutes, 14.9 seconds Friday to finish fourth out of 43 runners in the men's division of the Demon Invitational cross country meet.
     Pieri, a sophomore, was one of five Gold Rush runners with a season-best per-mile pace. Pieri recorded his second top-five finish of the season and his fifth as a collegian, and his time was nearly 50 seconds faster than it was in this race a year ago.
     Ray Walston was 14th in 16:53.5, and Javon Mead was 17.29.2 to help the Gold Rush score 99 points and finish third out of five schools.
     In the women's race, which also covered three miles, Xavier's Anna D'Souza finished 13th out of 52 runners in 20:42.11, and freshman teammate Donyé Coleman was 14th in 20:51.15. D'Souza missed her best per-mile pace of the year by half a second, but Coleman and Ashley Taylor (21st, 21:19.81) had season bests. Brianna Dekine was 19th in 21:13.16.
     The Gold Nuggets scored 92 points to place fourth out of eight schools, and they finished ahead of NCAA Division I members Centenary and Louisiana Tech.
     Lon Morris, a junior college, won the men's division with 29 points, and Jose Leos of Lon Morris won the race in 15:30.9. Host Northwestern State scored 36 points to repeat as women's champion, and the Lady Demons' Lawana Perking finished first in 18:41.51.
     It was the final regular-season meet for Xavier, which will compete Nov. 5 in the NAIA National Championships qualifying meet/Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships at Nashville, Tenn.