Jacob Kennedy sets Loyola record for 8,000 meters

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Jacob Kennedy set a Loyola University New Orleans record for 8,000 meters Saturday in the UAH Chargers Invitational cross country meet at John Hunt Park.
 

Kennedy, a senior from Walker, La., covered the course in 25 minutes, 24.9 seconds. He placed 114th out of 460 runners.
 

"I feel like I owe a good bit of credit to my teammates who helped me get where I am, quite literally," Kennedy said. "I went out smart with Jace (Luckoski) and Dylan (Brown), which helped me hang on for much later into the race until it was time to bring it home, which that part took care of itself."
 

Loyola's top women's finisher was freshman Genevieve Blanc, whose 24:12.5 is No. 3 on the Wolf Pack all-time performers list at 6,000 meters. Blanc placed 218th out of 373 runners.
 

Also competing for the Loyola men were Jace Luckoski, 135th in 25:34.8; Dylan Brown, 140th in 25:37.5; Cole Savoy, 283rd in 26:43.4; Aubrey Gibson, 349th in 27:32.2; Adam Merkle, 354th in 27:35.8; Drake Breland, 361st in 27:43.8; Alastair Casler, 382nd in 28:04.8; Daniel Miller, 405th in 28:47.4; Jacob Mullis, 414th in 29:00.8; Cris Velasquez, 426th in 29:29.6; Noah Clement, 446th in 31:37.6; and Landon Dixon, 453rd in 32:55.4.
 

The times of Luckoski and Brown rank second and third, respectively, on Loyola's all-time 8K performers list.
 

Also competing for the Loyola women were Meera Hijazi, 244th in 24:24.8; Ashlynn Yonge, 257th in 24:34.1; Noah Watson, 285th in 25:07.5; Sela Myers, 309th in 25:39.0; Kinslie Badon, 311th in 25:45.2; Vivian Bravo, 330rd in 26:41.7; Caitlyn Summers, 356th in 28:49.9; and Sara Haas, 362nd in 30:01.2.
 

The times of Hijazi and Yonge rank fifth and seventh, respectively, on Loyola's all-time 6K performers list.
 

In team scoring, Loyola's men had 764 points to rank 26th out of 39 four-year schools and 40 teams overall. The Wolf Pack women had 970 points to rank 31st out of 38 teams, all four-year schools.
 

Lee (Tenn.) won the men's team title with 26 points, and the Flames' Stephen Clark won the 8K in 23:28.5. Tampa won the women's team title with 94 points, and Eleni Stemmildt of Christian Brothers won the 6K in 20:36.6.


"The meet was almost entirely NCAA D2 teams, and most were nationally and/or regionally ranked," seventh-year Loyola head coach Geoff Masanet said. "Our men beat two D2 regionally ranked teams — UNC Pembroke is No. 8 in the Southeast, and Valdosta State is No. 10 in the South — and both squads had the best team time average in Loyola history by a pretty significant margin. The men averaged 26:11, and the women averaged 24:47." 
 

Next for both Loyola teams will be the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship Nov. 6 at Choctaw Trails in Clinton, Miss. The men's 8K will start at 8:30 a.m., followed by the women's 6K at 9:30.
 

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