LAFAYETTE The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's and women's cross country teams returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Mobile, Ala., to compete at the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championships at the University of South Alabama's Brookley Campus.

The women's 5K race will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 6K event at 11. Both championships will be shown live on ESPN+ with live results available at RaginCajuns.com.

"We are really excited to finally get to the championship portion of our season," head coach Lon Badeaux said. "Everything we have done has led up to this meet and we are excited to be able to line up and compete for a championship."

Louisiana, which was picked to finish fifth in the SBC Preseason Poll, finished fifth at last season's championships in Boone, N.C., as Beau Robinson and Jonathan Kimutai each earning All-SBC honors. Stanley Limoh, the 2016 SBC runner-up, and Kimutai, who placed 15th in 2017, leads the Ragin' Cajuns. Shadrack Kipngetich, George Femmer and the freshman duo of Key Alfred and Hannes Burger have been among the top six runners for the Ragin' Cajuns, ranked No. 13 in the USTFCCCA South Central Region poll.

Preseason favorite UTA, ranked No. 6 in the South Central Region, defending champion Appalachian State, host South Alabama, Texas State and Louisiana are among the top teams competing on the men's side.

On the women's side, a young Louisiana team enters the meet looking to duplicate last year's fifth-place performance the best finish since placing fourth at the 2014 championships in Mobile.

Hailey Hesterman has paced the Ragin' Cajuns women's team, which finished fifth at last season's meet, during the season. The senior led Louisiana at the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 13, completing the 6K course in 24:12.3. Junior Alexa Breaux, sophomores Ally McCulley and Teresa Bruning along with the freshman duo of Alivia Johnson and Kaya Seaman will round out the Ragin' Cajuns lineup.

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