Jesuit and Brother Martin placed second and fourth at the Southern Showcase cross country race Saturday in Huntsville, Alabama.
The race included several top teams from across the southeast. Belen Jesuit of Miami, Florida, had the top individual finisher and placed first in the team competition.
Jesuit junior Brady Mullen placed ninth and had the top finish among runners from the New Orleans schools. Junior Leland Crawford placed 11th. Brother Martin senior Daniel Falk placed 20th among team competitors.
The meet provided some measure of comparison for the two programs that finished first (Jesuit) and second (Brother Martin) at the LHSAA Division I state championship last November. Jesuit posted a perfect score at the state meet with five runners who placed first through fifth.
“We knew going into this year we might have a shot to be more in the mix against a team like Jesuit has been the last few years,” Brother Martin coach Drew Haro said. “Whether or not we can go toe to toe with them, there is some time left in the year to figure that out.”
Points-scoring Jesuit runners behind Mullen and Crawford were sophomore Brady Monahan (21 points), senior Lucas Sampedro (33) and sophomore Joe Accardo (50). From Brother Martin, behind Falk, were junior Noah Mooney (25 points), senior Luke Regan (27), Gabriel Metoyer (43) and sophomore Anders Maitrejean (70).
The two schools will run out-of-state meets again Sept. 30. Jesuit will run at the Nike XC Town Twilight in Terre Haute, Indiana. Brother Martin will compete at the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, Florida. Their next race together could be at the District 9-5A championships Oct. 26 at City Park.