LAKE CHARLES - The McNeese men's and women's cross country squads got the season off to a good start on Friday evening with both winning the team titles at the 2025 McNeese Season Opener.

The Cowgirls out-dueled Southern, scoring 15 points by placing runners in the top nine individual spots while the Cowboys scored 19 points to race to the win over Northwestern State and Southern.

Senior Cowgirl runner Jeny Barcenas won the individual title in the 3k race with a time of 10:26.3. She was followed by freshman teammate Elsa Moore (10:47.3) and senior Danielle Salinas (10:59.5) to round out the top three.

On the men's side, sophomore Ryan McCarthy placed second overall in the 5k race with a time of 15:22.7 but captured first place points due to the overall winner, McNeese's Omer El-Fadl, running as an unattached athlete. Freshman Gregory Martin placed fourth overall with a time of 15:41.1 while junior Kevin Kimaiyo finished fifth at 16:05.0.

The Season Opener was the first of four regular season cross country meets scheduled for the Cowboys and Cowgirls who will next be in action on September 12 at the Northwestern State Pre-Conference Meet in Natchitoches.