The LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Waco, Texas, on Saturday to run in the NCAA South Central Regional Championships.The teams want to end the season with a successful meet after a disappointing performance in the Southeastern Conference Championships, where the men finished No. 10 out of 11 teams and the women finished last out of 12 teams. “The performance at the SEC wasn’t what we wanted,” said LSU coach Mark Elliott. “The main reason for going is to finish the season on a great note.”The Lady Tigers will compete against a highly competitive field that includes SEC champion No. 12 Arkansas, No. 18 Baylor, No. 19 SMU and No. 22 Rice. The men will face No. 22 Texas A&M and No. 24 Arkansas.”Arkansas, Texas and Texas A&M are really above and beyond most. But every other team that’s going to be there, we match up really well against,” said senior Jacob Simmons.Simmons said the team wasn’t happy with they way they performed in the SEC Championships, but he expects a different mindset from the squad. “For this meet we’re just taking it one stride at a time,” Simmons said. “We have no expectations, and that’s probably going to pay off for us.” Elliott said his team should be better prepared and should execute better. ”They are much more prepared and much more focused,” Elliott said. “Preparation as it relates to these meets are always on the money, as I would say, but sometimes it never really goes as planned.” Simmons said he can improve on his all-regional honors performance he had in the 2007 NCAA South Central Regional Championships where he placed No. 23, but it “really depends on which Jake Simmons shows up.” He said he knows Arkansas, Texas and Texas A&M will be good, but he isn’t worried about being able to compete well against them. “I’ve been hanging with them ever since I’ve been in college,” Simmons said. “Everybody ties their shoe the same way; some might double-knot it, but it’s not that big of a deal.”The Lady Tigers are using the race to gain experience for their young team. “For the women, I’m giving them an idea of what it takes to run in this league,” Elliott said. “They get to see if on every different level.”—-Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]