Both of Ruston’s cross country teams had stellar performances this past Saturday at the Cedar Creek Wallace Martin Invitational held at Lincoln Parish Park this weekend by finishing first overall in both varsity girls and boys.
“We were really pleased with Saturdays results,” Ruston cross country coach Dustin Cochran said. “It can be easy for a team to overlook a local meet when it is sandwiched in between two big meets in Baton Rouge. We didn’t let that happen. The attitude and effort were great from the time we got to LPP. We had a race plan, and we tried our best to execute it. On the boys side, the back end of our scorers are really starting to come around. We were missing one of our top guys, and another was sick. We were still able to put 9 boys in the top 18.”
Both teams put six runners in the top ten finishes for dominant performances. The Bearcats finished with a team score of 18, while the Lady Bearcats finished with a team score of 27.
The boys finished as follows: Caleb Babineaux, 1st – 15:36, Thomas Rogers, 2nd – 15:45, Bryar Madden, 3rd – 15:53, Landon Byrd, 5th – 16:18, Nelson Blackburn, 7th – 16:38, Cole Maestrini, 10th – 16:47.
For the girls, it was Lily Garrett, 1st – 18:25, Sydney Owens, 4th – 19:56, Anna Naff, 6th – 19:58, Parker Nations – 7th 20:13, Zoie Holstead, 8th – 20:16, Sara Naff 10th – 20:39.
Cochran added that while he was pleased with how everyone ran, Garrett’s performance in the race stood out.
“What Lily did all by herself, on a tough course, in September, was special,” Cochran added. “The young group of girls behind her packed well, and followed the race plan. They’re continuing to learn each time out, and they should be pretty good in November if they keep improving.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Dr. Amy Vessel
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