Michael Schwing, Patrick LaCour, and Carlos Zervigon (front to back) round a corner on Thursday,Oct. 30, in City Park. Jesuit’s vaunted pack running paved the way for the district championship.

All seven Jesuit runners posted personal records and four broke the 16-minute barrier to lead the Blue Jays to the district cross country championship on Thursday, Oct. 30 at the City Park course. Senior Patrick LaCour paced the Jays, posting a time of 15:39 for the three-mile course and placing fourth overall.

“I’m thrilled, both individually and as a team,” said LaCour. “We all push each other, and it paid off today.”

Coach Rudy Horvath ’86 was beaming after the race. “I knew we had it in us,” he said. “I’ve been challenging them to bring the pack in under 16 minutes. What a great time to do it.”

Rounding out the top five for Jesuit were senior Matthews Vargas (15:48, 6th overall), sophomore Eli Sisung (15:54, 7th), junior Carlos Zervigon (15:57, 9th) and senior Michael Schwing (16:02, 10th).

Jesuit’s final two runners, juniors John James and Johnny LaForge, both came in under 16:30.

Jesuit finished with 36 points on the day (cross country scores are compiled by adding the place of a team’s top five  finishers, in this case four plus six plus seven plus nine plus ten). Brother Martin, with 45, was close behind.

“A lot of people who only follow cross country casually don’t realize just how important those six and seven guys are,” said Horvath. “When your six and seven guys finish ahead of other teams’ top five, it doesn’t affect your score, but it sure makes a difference in your opponents’ scores.”

Resources

Nola.com – Jesuit, Mt. Carmel defend District 9-5A Catholic League Cross Country Championship titles