Through the mud and the rain, the LSU women’s cross country team trudged its way to its second consecutive victory at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede on Saturday.
The Lady Tigers snatched the top three finishes in the meet and placed seven runners in the top 10 as they blew away competition from McNeese State, Nicholls State and Louisiana-Lafayette.
“Although it was not the best conditions to run in, the girls ran well,” said LSU coach Mark Elliott. “It was raining extremely hard and water logged, but everyone had to run in it. I am proud of what the girls are doing.”
Saturday was LSU’s first 5K course this season — a shorter distance than the 6K races the Lady Tigers ran in their first two meets.
But the change in length didn’t slow the Lady Tigers’ recent hot streak.
Senior Laura Carleton led the Tigers with a time of 17 minutes, 51 seconds, finishing first for the second straight week.
The Lady Tigers rounded out the podium positions with second and third place finishes from senior Dakota Goodman and junior Natoya Goule.
Seniors Brea Goodman, Charlene Lipsey, Leigh-Ann Naccari and junior Laura Aleman were LSU’s other top-10 performers Saturday.
“It’s something to build on when we go to the real tough competition after Arkansas, which will tell us really what kind of team we have,” Elliott said.
On the men’s side, LSU’s struggles continued, as the Tigers placed third out of four teams.
Despite the Tigers’ recent struggles, Elliott said he saw vast improvements from the men’s squad Saturday.
“I think this was the best race we’ve had collectively, as a team,” Elliott said.
Senior Roger Cooke was the Tigers’ top finisher Saturday, finishing third in the four-mile race with a time of 21:20.00.
The only other Tiger finishing in the top 10 was junior Bryan Mutell.
“There’s something positive to look for, and I think we saw it today,” Elliott said. “Hopefully by the time we get to Arkansas, they’ll be running their best and performing their best.”
“There’s something positive to look for, and I think we saw it today.”
