Hunt Valley, Md. - After a long waiting start to the season, the Lafayette men and women's cross country teams started in style at the snowy Loyola Invitational, both taking home first place. The men finished first out of two teams (American) with a score of 21 to 34 while the women finished first out of three teams (American, Loyola) with a score of 24 to 34 and 24 to 79.

"The course was covered with three inches of snow and was very slippery," said assistant coach Michael DuPaul. "The race came down to grit and perseverance. I am really proud of the toughness our women and men displayed to come away with victories against very strong teams."

On the women's side, Ainsley Jacobs had a huge performance, taking home first place in the field of 28 runners in a final time of 26:11. Her winning time was seven seconds faster than the second place finisher in the race.

"Ainsley took control of the race from the beginning and never looked back," said DuPaul. She was truly fearless."

The Leopards finished with three more finishers in the top five, asserting their dominance on the course. Rachel Hurley took home third place, finishing in a time of 26:26. Following Hurley was Becky Hartman, finishing fourth in a time of 26:44. Rounding out the top five was Dannah Javens crossing the finish line in a time of 27:08.

"Rachel, Becky and Dannah ran amazing races and stepped up when we needed them," stated DuPaul. They were flawless."

Finishing the top five scoring for the women was Autumn Sands, clocking in a final time of 28:05, good for 11th place in the race.

Rounding out the other finishes for the Leopards were Liv Palma (15th, 28:48), Mikayla Randall (16th, 29:02), Emma Lorey (18th, 29:09), and Nina Koobatian (27th, 32:19).

On the men's side, Brian Clayton lead the way in helping secure the victory, finishing second in the 13 person field in a time of 22:22.

The Leopards finished with two more top five finishes, showing off their pack running skills to help secure essential points in the victory. Finishing closely in third was Ryan Branch in a time of 22:24. Finishing just four seconds behind Branch was Bobby Oehrlein, crossing the finish line fourth in a time of 22:28.

Rounding out the scoring top five finishes for the men was Austin Barry in sixth place with a time of 23:00.

Closing out the finishers for the men were Jesse Schmeizer (8th, 23:58) and Sean Hamilton (12th, 25:26).

DuPaul was really proud of how the men finished, stating, "Brian, Ryan, and Bobby worked really well together during the race." They were charging hard at the end and nearly caught the leader. These three will surprise a lot of people at the Patriot League Championships."

Setting the pace on the men's side was Russell Sullivan of American, winning the race in a time of 22:15.