Loyola to host Allstate Sugar Bowl Cross Country Festival on Saturday

Head Coach Nick Dodson and the Loyola University New Orleans cross country team will welcome nine collegiate programs and 11 high school/middle school teams to Lafreniere Park on Saturday morning for the third annual Allstate Sugar Bowl Cross Country Festival.

“We are thrilled to again be partnering with the Allstate Sugar Bowl in our upcoming cross country meet at Lafreniere Park,” said Loyola Director of Athletics Brett Simpson. “Together, we hope to grow this event into one of the premiere cross country events on the Gulf Coast, while also showcasing the metro New Orleans area.”

The event will feature over 300 runners spread across seven divisions, which include men’s and women’s collegiate, boys and girls high school varsity and junior varsity, and boys and girls middle school.

Louisiana Tech took home the men’s crown last year, edging Tulane by just three points to grab the title. Individually, the Green Wave featured two of the top three finishers in the race as Emmanuel Rotich crossed the line in 14:13.0 to get the win while teammate Moses Aloiloi was not far behind at 14:20.3. The Wolf Pack featured two male runners to finish inside the top 25 last year with Anthony Rizzi claiming 18th in 15:33.1 and Brian Davis (JR/New Orleans, La.) grabbing 25th in 15:53.3.

For the women, Tulane landed five runners in the top eight to take the team title by an impressive 32 points over Mississippi Valley State. The Green Wave’s McKenzie Melius earned the individual title in 17:31.0, besting Jacksonville State’s Autumn Rich by six seconds to take the win. Making her collegiate debut, Tristin Sanders (SO/Henderson, NV) was the top finisher for the Loyola women in 2016 as the then-freshman left Lafreniere Park with a 27th place finish in 19:10.5.

Collegiate teams set to compete in 2017: Dillard University, Jacksonville State University, Loyola University, Mississippi Valley State University, Spring Hill College, Southern-Baton Rouge, Tougaloo College, Tulane University and Xavier University Louisiana.

High school programs set to compete in 2017: Alfred Barbe, De La Salle, George Washington Carver, Hanhville, Lakeshore, Mentorship Academy, Northshore, St. Amant, St. Katherine, Ursuline Academy and Woodlawn.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

7:50 a.m. – College Men (5K)
8:25 a.m. – College Women (5K)
8:50 a.m. – Varsity Boys (5K)
9:30 a.m. – Varsity Girls (5K)
10:00 a.m. – JV Boys (3K)
10:25 a.m. – JV Girls (3K)
10:45 a.m. – Middle school boys and girls (3K)

Location: Lafreniere Park – 3000 Downs Blvd. Metairie, La. 70003
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ABOUT ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL

A staple in the New Orleans sports and recreation scene, the All State Sugar Bowl is an organization whose mission is to seek out, promote, finance, sponsor, schedule, conduct, and operate an annual calendar of local, state, national and international amateur and collegiate sporting events in the Greater New Orleans area and the State of Louisiana for the purpose of generating tourism. Along with Saturday’s cross country festival, Allstate Sugar Bowl sponsors a variety of other local events including swim meets, sailing regattas, basketball classics and prep football games. It is also the title sponsor for college football’s Sugar Bowl – a game that has been played annually since 1935 and is tied for the second oldest college football bowl game with the Sun Bowl and the Orange Bowl. Taking place at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 1, 2018, the Allstate Sugar Bowl is a member of the College Football Playoff, which determines the champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of college football in the United States.