Senior Luke Malter led all Blue Jays with a time of 16:52 for the three-mile course at the regional cross country meet on Friday, Nov. 4.

Despite holding out five of their top seven runners, Jesuit’s cross country team took third place overall in the first-ever LHSAA regional cross country meet on Friday, Nov. 4 at the City Park course. The top eight teams earned the right to send full seven-man squads to the state meet in Natchitoches on Nov. 15.

Coach Rudy Horvath ’86 believed his depth allowed the luxury of keeping his fastest racers on the sidelines–and therefore on their training schedules–and the bench didn’t disappoint. “The guys ran a very good race today,” said Horvath. “I’m really pleased that we were able to finish in third with so many guys sitting out.”

Two of Horvath’s top seven runners did compete on Friday, and they led the way for the Jays. Seniors Luke Malter and Tanner Tresca, both of whom struggled in the district meet, rebounded to finish 14th and 15th, respectively, with unofficial times of 16:52 and 16:56 for the three-mile course.

Also running for Jesuit were junior Peter Carr (17:28), junior Chris Ross (17:41), junior Ben Finicle (17:48), freshman Brandon Hall (17:52), and junior Jonathan Arnold (18:28).

Jesuit finished with 116 points overall, far behind district rivals Brother Martin and Holy Cross. Both of those schools opted to make regionals a trial run for state, putting their top line-ups on the course. The Crusaders edged the upstart Tigers, who have exploded into contention this year, by a score of 30-32.

The regional meet is a new addition to the LHSAA cross country schedule. Limiting each region to eight full squads, plus a handful of individual qualifiers from other schools, is expected to significantly cut congestion on the course at the state meet, which had become a significant problem.