Xavier Athletics

XULA WWW

 


2009 Xavier University of Louisiana Women's Cross Country Preview
Gold Nuggets, Harding ready to make run at GCAC titles

See also:  Schedule    Roster    Quick Facts    Women's Cross Country Home Page

     The ingredients are in place for another championship season for the Xavier University of Louisiana women's cross country program.
     Six returning letterwomen, including all four of their all-conference runners, will make the Gold Nuggets a strong favorite in 2009 to win a fourth consecutive Gulf Coast Athletic Conference team championship and qualify for the NAIA National Championships for the second straight year.
     The most intriguing question: Can senior Ebony Harding break through and win a GCAC individual championship?
    
About the Gold Nuggets

Head Coach: Joseph Moses (LSU 1994), fifth season; 113-195 at Xavier
2008 Overall Record: 29-69
2008 GCAC Finish: 1st place out of 5 schools
2008 NAIA National Championships Finish: 32nd place out of 32 schools
Letterwomen: 6 returning, 1 lost
     "It's time for Eb to win it," said fifth-year head coach Joseph Moses. "She trained hard again this summer and looked great. She deserves an individual conference title, but she knows it won't be gift-wrapped for her. She'll have to keep working hard for it."
     Despite a school-record time of 19 minutes, 48.84 seconds for 5,000 meters at the 2008 GCAC meet, Harding had to settle for her third consecutive runner-up finish in the conference. Spring Hill's Kate Imwalle was more than a minute faster than Harding and will return to defend her title.
     Still, Harding lowered her 5K best by approximately 30 seconds each of the past two seasons, and Moses expects more improvement.
     "The big reason is that Eb's motivated," Moses said. "She's had a great career at Xavier. She's been all-conference three times and All-Louisiana three times. No other runner at Xavier has done that. But she wants to do even more her senior year. She's committed to making this the best year."
     Xavier has a capable supporting cast, led by two-time All-GCAC runner Stacey Windon, a junior, and Anna D'Souza and Ashley Taylor, who were all-conference as freshmen in 2008. D'Souza also shared the Freshman of the Year award on the All-Louisiana team.
     D'Souza, Windon and Taylor posted a 5-6-8 finish to help the Nuggets win the conference by 20 points over runner-up Belhaven. Windon and Taylor recorded personal bests at that meet.
     Also back are two-year letterwoman Jennifer Garcia, the team's other senior, and junior Brittany Everett, who sat out 2008 because of an injury.
     "We have great depth behind Eb, and I'm looking for improvement there too," Moses said.
     Adding to the Nuggets' depth will be four freshmen: Rubeneisha Cooper of Pearland, Texas, Brianna Dekine of Culver City, Calif., Sabrina Vargas of Brookshire, Texas, and Dominique Webb of Carson, Calif.
     "We've had six freshmen make all-conference during my time here," Moses said. "It would not surprise me to see us add to the total this year."
     The Rush will open its season Sept. 4 in the Southern Miss Invitational, the first of seven meets before the GCAC Championships on Nov. 7 in Clinton, Miss., a suburb west of Jackson. During the offseason GCAC coaches approved Clinton's Choctaw Trails Course as a permanent site for the league meet, and Xavier will be the host this year.
     The GCAC team champion and the top five runners not on the champion will qualify automatically for the NAIA National Championships on Nov. 21 at Vancouver, Wash. It will be the first time that the NAIA runs its national meet on the West Coast.
     Harding and Imwalle are scheduled for two regular-season matchups: Oct. 3 in the Gulf Coast Stampede at Pensacola, Fla., and Oct. 17 in the Choctaw Open at Clinton. Three weeks later they'll return to Clinton to battle for conference honors.

 

 
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The Xavier Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets compete in Division I of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) as a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Xavier fields men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country and tennis.

Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
Xavier University of Louisiana
1 Drexel Drive
Campus Box 92
New Orleans, LA 70125
(504) 520-7329 phone
(504) 520-7934 fax

 
Xavier University
Xavier Athletics

About Xavier
Contact UsSite Map
© Xavier University of Louisiana. All rights reserved