The LSU cross country teams closed out the regular season Saturday with 10th-place men’s and 22nd-place women’s finishes at the 2007 Chile Pepper Festival.
The Tigers kept up a season- long trend in the men’s and women’s contrasting racing styles.
The women continued their strategy of running together as a pack, while the men once more relied on a stand-out performance from a top runner.
Junior Joseph Simuchimba led the men’s team again this weekend with a 14th-place finish.
Sophomore Jake Simmons finished 33rd, and Michael Hendry (94th), Alan Sticker (96th) and Michael Florek (110th) rounded out the Tigers’ top five.
The Razorbacks won the men’s race despite a first-place individual finish by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Shadrack Songok.
Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego finished first overall in the women’s race leading the Lady Red Raiders to a narrow 4-point victory over the Lady Razorbacks.
The Lady Tigers were also led by a familiar face Saturday as senior Kate Accardo finished 93rd overall.
Simuchimba and Accardo have finished first for the Tigers in every race this season – including Simuchimba’s first overall finish at LSU’s home meet in September.
Seniors Erin Vandivort (136th), Christina Porter (147th), Lindsay Day (164th) and Jennifer Radecker (171st) also scored for the women.
The meet, hosted by the Arkansas Razorbacks, marked the first time this season that LSU’s men competed in a 10K race – the distance of the men’s postseason races.
“It wasn’t that great of a race for our team,” Vandivort said, “But some people – like [Porter] – really stepped it up.”
The race marked the first time Porter scored for the Tigers this year.
Several schools ran the meet and provided for LSU’s toughest challenge this season, especially for the women.
“This is the biggest field we’ll run in all year,” said LSU coach Mark Elliot before the meet. “I want our teams to run against the best.”
Arkansas headlined both the 37-team men’s and 43-team women’s fields.
The Razorback men and women ranked No. 9 and No. 5, respectively, going into the weekend.
Virginia Tech’s women ranked No. 19 nationally and Texas Tech’s women went into the meet at No. 24.
The Lady Tigers also competed against Baylor, who received votes in the latest rankings.
The Tigers have two weeks to prepare for the Southeastern Conference Championships on Oct. 27 in Lexington, Ky., where they will have another shot at opponents like Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn and Florida.
The Razorbacks won both SEC Championship races in 2006.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]