Fakler breaks 6K record; XU wins team title in tiebreaker

Fakler breaks 6K record; XU wins team title in tiebreaker
October 5, 2012

Results:  Men    Women

     CLINTON, Miss. — Catherine Fakler again broke the Xavier University of Louisiana women's record for 6,000 meters and led the Gold Nuggets to a team championship Friday in the Mississippi College/Watson Ford Invitational cross country meet.
     Fakler placed third among non-NCAA Division I runners in 24 minutes, 7.38 seconds. She has broken the XU record three times in four races at this distance in two years, including 24:09.65 three weeks ago.
     The Gold Nuggets, winning a second regular-season meet for the first time in four years, and Mississippi College each finished with 37 points. But Xavier earned the tiebreaker because of No. 6 runner Paige Rochelle's finish, which has nearly 90 seconds faster than her Mississippi College counterpart.
     Also in the top 10 for the XU women were Zahri Jackson (fourth place, 25:01.34), Hannah Finnegan (sixth, 25:10.09) and Briana Simms (ninth, 25:53.40). Finnegan recorded her first top-10 finish, and her time was a personal best. Rochelle (30th, 30:03.86) beat her previous best by more than a minute.
     Had all the female runners been scored together, Xavier would have finished ahead of the NCAA Division I champion, Mississippi Valley.
     Xavier's men finished third out of seven non-DI schools. Matt Pieri (second place, 27:12.43) led the Gold Rush in the 8K race. Kwame Jackson was seventh (27:42.71), and the Gold Rush got personal bests from freshmen David Holobowicz (12th, 28:19.42) and Aaron Yarmush (14th, 28:42.26).
     NCAA D3 member Hendrix won the non-DI team scoring with 33 points. Mississippi College was second with 60 points, followed by Xavier with 64.
     It was Xavier's final meet before the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships on Oct. 20 at this same course. Both XU teams are six-time defending GCAC champions.