Seniors Reed Meric, Eli Sisung, John Kling, and Tanner Tresca all earned T-shirts with Top 20 finishes in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Metro Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Six Jesuit runners placed among the Top 20 overall at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Metro Campionships on Saturday, Oct. 20 at the City Park course in New Orleans.

Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, five St. Paul’s runners placed among the top seven overall, allowing the Wolves to run away with the team title with a jaw-dropping score of 23 points (15 is the lowest possible score in cross country, occurring when a team snags all of the top five spots in a race). Jesuit finished third with 57 points, just two points behind Brother Martin.

“They (St. Paul’s) are obviously the best team in the state right now,” said Jesuit coach Rudy Horvath ’86. But I was real happy with my guys today. I don’t think a lot of folks thought we could hang so tight with Brother Martin.”

Jesuit was ranked 6th in the most recent Louisiana Track and Field Coaches Association rankings. Brother Martin was second. Holy Cross, the state’s fifth-ranked team, held their top runners out and was not a factor in Saturday’s race.

Senior Reed Meric again crossed the finish line first for the Blue Jays, posting a time of 16:12 on the three-mile course to finish 8th overall. Also in the Top Ten were seniors Tanner Tresca (9th, 16:15) and Eli Sisung (10th, 16:27). Other Jays earning T-Shirts for Top 20 finishes were senior John Kling (11th), senior Luke Malter (19th) and junior Jordan Tufts (20th). Junior Michael Williams also ran for the Jays.

Jesuit will participate in the Jack Schommer Invitational, hosted by Brother Martin, on Saturday, Oct. 22, although the team’s top runners will sit that one out in advance of the district championship, to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Both races are at the City Park course.