Results
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's
Taylor Price set a Gulf Coast Athletic
Conference Cross Country Championships record Saturday by becoming the first woman to win a third individual title,
and she led the Gold Nuggets to a 13th consecutive team title.
Price, a senior, ran 5,000 meters at NOLA's City Park in 19 minutes, 44.5 seconds.
She repeated as individual champion; she also won as a freshman in 2016. Runner-up was senior teammate
Maliya Vaughan, the 2017 champion, in 21:30.8.
The Gold Nuggets produced 23 points — just eight more than
the lowest possible score — in the team totals. Philander Smith was second with 55 points,
and city rival Dillard was third with 86.
The team title earned XULA the GCAC's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships meet
Nov. 22 at Vancouver, Wash.
The top 10 finishers earned All-GCAC honors. Joining Price and Vaughan
with that distinction were teammates
Ky'Reon McBride (fifth place, 23:05.9),
Alexis Williams (seventh, 23:59.6) and
Darryan Horton (eighth, 24:02.8).
Price and Vaughan won their fourth All-GCAC awards, and McBride repeated with that honor.
XULA's other finisher was
Hajjia Mohammed, 11th in 25:08.4 and about 37 seconds shy of All-GCAC recognition.
Yhann Plummer, in his second season at XULA, repeated as women's Coach of the Year.
He also won the honor on the men's side.
The Gold Nuggets began their streak of GCAC team titles in 2006.
There was no league meet in 2015 — XULA competed in the Red River Athletic Conference meet
that year but did not win — and the Gold Nuggets, led by Price and Vaughan, then led the Nuggets to four more GCAC titles in a row.
