Despite humidity and the absence of a top female athlete, the cross country team demonstrated its ability to compete against some of the state’s top runners on Saturday.

For example, history senior Mike Gulotta defeated the entire University of Louisiana-Lafayette host team.

On the 8K course, Gulotta finished eighth overall in just under 27 minutes.

“Mike is well thought-of, knowledgeable, and hardworking,” coach Al Seither said. “He was right up there with the big boys.”

Business freshman Matt Cagigal finished 30th, with a time of 28:57.14.

History freshman Richard Bouckaert was next, running 30:17.02 for 45th place.

“The two freshmen ran well,” Seither said. “[Bouckaert] had a slow start, but it was a still a pretty good effort.”

Still making up for lost time due to injury, Andrew Fell, international business junior, finished relatively close to his teammates. He ran 31:56.29 for 51st place.

Seither commented on the men’s strategy for competing against larger schools.

“[Cagigal] likes to keep up with [Gulotta] as long as he can, and [Bouckaert] likes to keep him in sight,” Seither said. “All (the freshmen) have to do is get stronger (and) get more leg speed.”

Seither still looks forward to running a full men’s team: “We’re getting some leads on the fifth man. If someone wants to try, we’ll let them try, particularly freshmen.”

The women, who had more than enough runners to compete as a team, were impressive for their overall performance, as well as for individual performances.

Loyola easily defeated Louisiana College and nearly beat National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I member Grambling State.

“Grambling isn’t exactly a powerhouse,” Seither said. “I’m sure they have a lot more to offer than we do, but we still have a long way to go.”

Sarah Miles St. Clair, general studies sophomore, led the team, finishing the 5K race 35th with a time of 21:25.26

“I felt pretty good,” Seither said of the women. “Natalie Sargent didn’t run, so we were a little short-handed. [St. Clair and Natalie Miller, communications sophomore] ran pretty well.”

Sargent had run second on the team in the Southern Mississippi Invitational. Miller and psychology sophomore Kim Kujanek finished 42nd and 43rd in the respective times of 21:55.01 and 22:03.43.

Elementary education junior Jean Cassandra finished among the scorers again, and general studies freshman Courtney Gist was close behind her.

Cassandra finished 46th with a time of 22:37.50, and Gist finished 54th in23:57.32 to round out the scorers.

Seither was impressed by the team’s effort.

“All we have to do (to win conference) is stay healthy and stay together,” he said. “If [the women] can all stay in that group together, we’ll be pretty good.”