The Loyola cross country team headed to Baton Rouge, La., last Saturday to compete in the Louisiana State University Invitational for their second meet of the year.

CJ Kelliher, psychology freshman, led the Wolfpack in the 8K race, finishing 57th. He was closely followed by biological sciences freshman Robert Hayden, 62nd; biological sciences freshman Trevor McQueen, 64th; and general business studies freshman Justin Fecke, 70th. Criminal justice junior Thomas Palacio, competing in his first meet for the Wolfpack, finished 72nd._

The men’s team, which did not place in the last meet, placed 10th out of 11 places, finishing well ahead of GCAC rival Southern University of New Orleans._

The women’s team also placed 10th overall, finishing behind all NCAA Division I teams. Biological sciences freshman Lauren Fereday, the women’s top competitor, finished 42nd in the 6K race. Psychology junior Melissa Wilson led the rest of Loyola’s women into the finish in 55th place: Annelise Rickert, marketing freshman, 56th; Olivia Taylor, biological sciences freshman, 57th; Joilynn Hollies, sociology freshman, 58th; Kristin Francis, biological sciences sophomore, 60th; and Kayla Cox, criminal justice sophomore, 61st._

Rickert, who is enjoying her first semester at Loyola, is also a first-time cross-country runner. Focusing almost entirely on dance her entire life, including a time-consuming dance team in high school, Rickert had very little time for anything else.

“I always ran. Its just hard to do both because you lose your flexibility so quickly,” Rickert said of dancing and running. 

Since joining the Wolfpack, she has “retired from dancing” and often runs in Audubon Park, which she refers to as one of her favorite spots in New Orleans.   

Rickert is no stranger to the city. She was born here and moved to Houston when she was two. She said she always wanted her parents to move her family back.    

“I feel so much more connected here,” she said of finally getting to return to the city she loves.    

In the past month, Rickert has immersed herself into Loyola, joining Loyola University Community Action Program, and she is looking forward to Panhellenic recruitment later this month. As a student of the business school with aspirations towards law school, she also hopes to join Students in Free Enterprise._   

Within cross-country though, she said she did a lot better this meet than the first, despite worries that a stress fracture from the previous year might cause issues later on in the season.   

Kelliher, Loyola’s current leader on the course with two firsts on the team, is enjoying the season.    

He is also new to cross-country, but played soccer, basketball and football and ran indoor and outdoor track while in high school.   

“I like keeping busy,” the admitted sports fanatic said.   

Once the season is over, Kelliher is looking forward to joining LUCAP and several other organizations.   

Loyola brings a lot of changes for the New Hampshire native, most particularly the weather. “I’m kind of crazy, and I knew I wanted to go down south.  It was a little hot in the beginning. The first meet was rough,” he said. 

Practice has gotten much easier he said, now that the mornings have cooled down. 

Kelliher, like many of his teammates, has a lot of faith in the fact they are a new team, saying that they’ve already improved so much.    

He is looking forward to the next meet because they will have the chance to compete against more people in their division. 

“It was fun, but competing against Tulane and LSU was tough,” he said.      

The team’s next meet will be Saturday, Oct. 11, at the Mississippi College Invitational in Clifton, Miss.

Lauren Navarro can be reached at [email protected].