Ed Cassiere 12/18/11
NEW
ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana siblings Kwame and Zahri
Jackson both received Freshman of the Year honors on the 2011
All-Louisiana collegiate cross country teams announced late Friday, and
XU's Joseph Moses was chosen Coach of the Year on the women's team for
the fourth time.The Jacksons, from Kingwood, Texas, and graduates of Kingwood Park High School, also were chosen All-Louisiana.
Kwame Jackson was the first freshman in at least 13 years to win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's individual championship. He
posted five top-10 finishes in eight races, including three in the top five, and recorded the No. 2 four-mile time in XU history, 21 minutes, 46.1 seconds, at the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational in September.
Zahri Jackson became the first XU female freshman to win a GCAC individual championship, and her 5,000-meter time of 19:20.40 was second fastest in 11 years by a female at GCAC meet. She recorded the three fastest 5Ks in XU history and set XU records of 16:27.58 for 4K and 19:15.18 for 5K in her first two meets.
Both the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets won GCAC team championships for a sixth consecutive year and qualified for the NAIA National Championships for the third time in four seasons.
Moses guided XU's women to a 13-6-1 record against NCAA Division I opponents and a school-record 41 victories. Three of his freshmen — Zahri Jackson, Catherine Fakler and Hali Yarmush — combined for eight of the 12 fastest 5K times in Xavier history, including the three fastest. The top two 6K times were run this year.
Moses also won the state coaching award on the women's team in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and on the men's team in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is the only Louisiana coach to win the women's award more than twice.
Zahri Jackson is the second XU female to be Louisiana Freshman of the Year. Anna D'Souza shared the award in 2008. Kwame Jackson is the fourth Gold Rush runner in 10 years to be the men's Freshman of the Year, joining Prince Mumba (2002), David Salmon (2007) and Mark Dotson (2009).
A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel selected the teams.