LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams had very different results in Saturday’s Pre-Southeastern Conference Invitational in Starkville, Miss. The men’s team, led by senior Jacob Simmons, sophomore Richard Chautin and junior Michael Florek, finished No. 2 out of the four teams that competed.The Tigers posted a score of 48 — behind only the hosting Mississippi State Bulldogs’ 29. Ole Miss wrapped up the top-three with a score of 75.Of the four teams competing, the Lady Tigers finished the day No. 4 with 89 points. The Lady Bulldogs clinched first place with 26 points, followed by Northwestern with 36 points and Ole Miss with 71 points. Simmons’ third-place finish of 25:12.64 on the 8K course led the LSU men. “I felt like I had control of the race the whole time,” Simmons said. “I think it was a successful performance for the first meet.”Chautin and Florek followed Simmons in seventh and ninth with times of 25:43.79 and 26:04.89, respectively. Sophomore Tim Landry finished with a 13th place time of 26:33.19. “Overall I think it was a solid performance,” said LSU coach Mark Elliott. “Based on the conditions, the guys did well.”Simmons said Saturday’s sloppy conditions on the muddy Starkville course contributed to the slower pace of the race. “It went out slower than the pace I like,” Simmons said. “I think the pace was dictated slow because of the weather.”LSU runners said the weather conditions didn’t hinder their performance more than any other team’s performance.”It’s called cross country for a reason,” said LSU senior Christina Porter. “Everyone has to endure the exact same amount of climate and mud.” Porter led the LSU women, placing No. 12 overall with a time of 20:04.37 on the 5K course. Freshman Laura Carleton finished No. 14 with a time of 20:33.30, and freshman Jenna Henssler placed No. 21 with a time of 20:57.62. Senior Kayann Thompson rounded out the top-25 with a time of 21:34.73.The young Lady Tigers said they plan to build on their fourth-place finish weekend.”As the season goes along, I hope that we can improve enough to show that we can run better in the SEC than we did this weekend,” Porter said. LSU hosts its next race, the LSU Tiger Cross Country Festival, Saturday in Baton Rouge. LSU men’s and women’s teams finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in last season’s LSU Tiger Cross Country Festival. —-
Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]