HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The University of South Alabama men’s cross country team had the top four finishers at the Southern Mississippi Invitational Friday to open the 2010 season by finishing first overall in the meet run at Tatum Park, while the women came in second place.

Mark Sullivan, making his collegiate debut, finished first overall in the four-mile run with a time of 20:58.97.  Scott Lasiter completed the course in 21:14.60 to come in second place, with Zack Brantley (21:16.94) less than three second behind in third.  Matt Miller rounded out the quartet with a time of 21:27.73.

Damien Lee came in ninth overall with a time of 22:30.5 as the Jaguars finished with 18 total points, 22 ahead of Louisiana-Monroe.  Xavier (La.) (71) and Jackson State (84) rounded out the field.

The Lady Jags recorded 41 points to trail host Southern Miss by 17 points, with a pair of runners — Dani Sullivan and Jessie Mackie — finishing in the top five.  Sullivan was second with a time of 19:07.35, while Mackie posted a 19:43.63 time to come in fifth.

The women had five runners in the top 15, as Brittany Westmorland finished eighth with a time of 20:32.99, Faith Sanders was 12th with a time of 22:07.9 and Sasha Corcoran finished 14th to round out the scoring with a time of 22:43.07.

Kendra Lowe (23:21.19) and Courtney Kieffer (23:33.41) also competed for USA, finishing 17th and 19th, respectively.

USM’s Stephanie Ledgerwood was clocked in 19:02.40 to win the women’s individual title.

South Alabama will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 18, when they host the Azalea City Classic. The men will race first at 9:55 a.m. in a 5,000-meter run.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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