The cross-country runners turned in another strong performance at the Southern Mississippi Invitational in Hattiesburg, Miss., last Friday.

Mike Gulotta, history senior, finished in fourth place at the meet Friday evening.

Gulotta ran the four-mile course in a time of 21 minutes and 5.19 seconds-the second fastest four-mile time in Loyola history. Sean Fitzwilliam, A ’00, is the only Loyola runner who has run under 21, which he did in 1999.

“I know that we only run one four-mile race a year; (and) if I run like I’m supposed to, those kind of things follow” Gulotta said. “It’s good to have the time, but I don’t go out there and shoot for records.”

“I’m really pleased – Mike deserved that,” coach Al Seither said. “With his outlook, things can get even better.”

Gulotta ran his first mile in exactly five minutes.

“The first mile, it’s natural to run fast. I just know I need to get myself in a position where I’m in the top ten,” Gulotta said. “I realize when I go out fast I have to be able to hang on.”

Business freshman Matt Cagigal, running his first four-miler, ran 22:40.81 for 24th.

History freshman Richard Bouckaert also ran well, finishing 32nd with a time of 23:07.53.

“They’re two very talented freshmen,” Gulotta said. “To come out of high school like they did and race shows what kind of competitors they are.”

International business junior Andrew Fell finished 69th in 25:20.06.

“Those three guys (Gulotta, Bouckaert, and Cagigal) are a dream really – they do all I ask with out complaining,” Seither said. “(Fell) will be right with them.”

“If we had a fifth guy, we’d be one of the best teams Loyola has had [five runners are necessary to compete as a team],” Seither added.

Gulotta was also excited about competing against prominent National Collegiate Athletic Association teams.

“As athletes at this school, we can compete with the school across the street and other schools in the state,” he said.

The women’s team, which had seven runners, finished eighth of 13 teams.

“I think they handled the transition (to 5 kilometers) well,” Seither said. “That was a hard course – particularly the third mile – and I was impressed.”

Sarah Miles St. Clair, general studies sophomore, led the team in the 5K race with a time of 21 minutes and 17.33 seconds for 32nd place.

“I’m more excited to see, since it is the beginning of the season, how much I can improve,” she said.

Sociology junior Natalie Sargent finished 39th in 21:36.27. Psychology sophomore Kim Kujanek was third on the team and 51st overall with the time of 22:19.54.

“(Kim) will be a good runner,” Seither said.

To round out the scorers, communications sophomore Natalie Miller finished 55th in 22:31.04, and elementary education junior Jean Cassandra finished 65th in 22:51.26.

General studies freshman Courtney Gist, who is “coming along well,” according to Seither, did not score for the team but finished in 24:22.86 for 92nd.

Finally, criminal justice senior Becky Kramer ran 103rd with a time of 26:38.20.

“Just because we’re a small athletic program doesn’t mean we can’t compete against the bigger schools,” Gulotta said. “If there’s a major positive, we’ve got on the lines with schools with athletic budgets three times ours and we’ve done pretty well.”

Both teams will run at the LSU Invitational on September 27.

The men will run five miles, which will be their first typical college race.

“You can be in excellent shape for the five-mile, but you have to know how to run it,” Gulotta said. “The other guys need to realize that they’re in better shape than they were in high school, but by the end of the season they’ll run well in those races.”

The team, which is still adjusting to its new coach, will have next week to prepare.

“The guys have to catch up more with Mike, and they need more speed work,” Seither said.

“Coach has seen how we perform as runners.” Gulotta said. “The one thing that’s really been a help for me is increasing mileage.”

Gulotta also mentioned the lack of runners.

“Now the most important priority is filling out the holes on the team,” he said.

The women “have a nice little group,” Seither said. They have the added motivation of being picked to lose to Xavier.

“They want to kick Xavier’s butt,” Seither said. “If you compare times, we’ve got to be better.”

Gulotta spoke for both the men and the women when he said, “We’re still getting that racing edge back.”