Results
CLINTON, Miss. — Xavier University
of Louisiana men's cross country produced a pair of personal bests and three of the top six finishers
but had to settle for second place Wednesday at the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships.
Philander Smith, which had three of the top five
finishers, including champion Desmond Merritt, outscored XULA 28-31 for the title.
The Panthers, in their 10th year of GCAC membership and fourth season of cross country, earned their first team championship
in this sport.
XULA won 12 of the 13 previous GCAC team titles,
including 2018 and 2019.
Ahmad Wilson (30 minutes, 21.9 seconds),
Zacchaeus Mosley (PR of 31:09.2) and
Adrian Thornton (32:15.3) finished 2-4-6
for XULA, and their top-10 finishes earned them All-GCAC awards. Wilson, a sophomore, was honored
for the second straight season and finished six places higher than he did a year ago.
XULA's other finishers were
Devin Macklin-Jackson, 11th
in a personal-best 32:56.9;
Jordan Ashmore, 12th in 33:07.4; and
Dayton Jamierson, 14th in
34:00.1.
Merritt, a freshman, won the individual title
by 50.9 seconds. His time was a personal-best 29:31.0. The Panthers got sensational improvements from Isaiah Millet, in third place
after finishing 20th at this meet a year ago, and Miles Flood, who climbed from 18th to fifth.
Edward Waters, the 2017 team champion and the runner-up
in its eight other GCAC appearances, slipped to third this time with 73 points.
Tougaloo placed fourth with 101 points. Dillard did not qualify for team scoring
because only three of its runners finished. The other two league members, Rust and Talladega,
did not compete.
This was XULA's final GCAC cross country meet.
The school will compete next season as a full-time member of the NAIA's Red River Athletic Conference.
