LSU completed its cross-country season Saturday with fifth-place men’s and 11th-place women’s finishes at the South Central Regional in Fayetteville, Ark. The highlight of the meet was junior Joseph Simuchimba’s eighth-place finish – good enough to qualify him individually for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. Simuchimba finished the 10K race in 29:52.1 – 35 seconds faster than he had finished Arkansas’ course in the Tigers’ final regular season meet nearly a month earlier. “[Simuchimba] ran a whole lot better than he did last time he ran the course at the Chile Pepper [Invitational], and he ran well then,” said LSU coach Mark Elliott. “[He] is the most talented one, and he shows it.” Simuchimba’s performance led the men to a fifth-place team finish despite entering the meet ranked No. 6 in the region. Sophomore Jake Simmons’ impressive day also helped the Tigers as he went on to finish 23rd for his fifth top-25 finish on the year en route to all-region honors. Seniors Elkana Kosgei (43rd), Michael Hendry (54th) and sophomore Michael Florek (81st) also scored for the team in the seniors’ last meet. “I didn’t have that great of a season, but this was probably the best race I had all season,” Hendry said. “So that’s good. I’m just looking forward to track now.” Each of the five men to score put forth season-best performances. Arkansas and Texas finished No. 1 and No. 2 to receive the region’s automatic NCAA Championship bids. Senior Kate Accardo again led the Lady Tigers with her 45th-place finish. Accardo finished first for the team in every race this season. “[Accardo] walked on, struggled at first, worked hard and then she’s gone on to become the No. 1 runner on the team,” Elliott said. “Someday when she’s a doctor, she’ll look back on her time at LSU and see some of the difficulty she overcame. [She should] be proud of her accomplishments, and I’m pretty proud of her.” The Lady Tigers also finished ahead of projections with an 11th-place team finish despite entering the meet ranked No. 13 in the region. Their familiarity with the Arkansas course may have played a part in their out-performing expectations. “For some of them, this is probably their fifth time running this course,” Elliott said. “Cross country is different from track in that there’s obstacles – there’s hills, there’s stuff to jump over – and the more familiar you are with them, the better finishes you might have.” Other scorers for the Lady Tigers included seniors Megan Broussard (73rd), Christina Porter (76th), Katie Dawson (78th) and Jennifer Radecker (79th) as the women finished the season by sticking to their strategy of running together in a group. Rice and Arkansas received the two automatic NCAA Championship bids on the women’s side. The race marked the end of several LSU cross country careers – including all seven Lady Tigers to compete Saturday. “[The runners] really are what you call student-athletes,” Elliott said. “So now, they can go focus on track, and then they can focus on the career that they really came to LSU for academically.”
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