Two weeks ago, members of Loyola’s cross country team left the comfortable New Orleans fall climate for freezing temperatures to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Cross Country Championships in Kenosha, Wis.

The men’s team qualified for the meet with a strong performance at the Region XIII championship. Natalie Sargent, general studies sophomore, was the only individual qualifier for the women’s team. The men’s team tied for the Region XII at the Lakefront earlier this year.

The Wolfpack’s dominance at the regional championship was tested by cold temperatures and a tough, hilly course at nationals.

Mike Gulotta, history junior, led the ‘Pack to a 28th place finish of 29 teams in their largest race of the season. He ran a time of 28:13 on the five-mile course.

He was also designated an Academic All-American by meeting the requirements of having at least a 3.5 GPA, running under 28 minutes at some point during the season and qualifying for nationals.

Commincations senior Kevin Fitzwilliam finished in 29:48. Management freshman Nick Bousquet ran 30:06. Joe Kutner, music and computer information systems senior, finished with a time of 31:33, and Andrew Lecocq-Fell, international business sophomore, ran 32:17 to round out scoring for the ‘Pack. Communications freshman T.J. Ortenzi completed the race in 32:56.

Sargent ran 20:52 on the women’s three-mile race.

Gulotta said it was a great accomplishment to compete at the national level, even though he didn’t run as well as he hoped he would.

He said he would’ve liked to see the team finish in the top 25, but the race was a good experience for younger team members.

The level of competition was a few degrees higher on the national stage. Gulotta said he knew of only one other non-scholarship team that raced. Loyola does not award athletic scholarships to students.

In addition to tough opposition, Gulotta described the course and conditions as “brutal almost when you put together the weather and the hills.”

Ortenzi said that even though he is from the North, he still thought it was freezing. “I don’t remember it being that cold,” he said.

He said it was a hard race, describing the course as a series of rolling hills with a difficult uphill start.

The closest things resembling hills that the team sees uptown are the Mississippi River levees.

Despite the difficulties, Gulotta said he is looking forward to a promising season next year. He said the freshmen were adjusting and had improved a lot since the beginning of the season.

“You only get better with experience in this sport,” he said. “We should be a good team next year.”