The LSU cross country teams finished ninth and 11th at the Southeastern Conference Championships on Monday.
While the results appear to be only a modest improvement from last year’s dual 11th-place finishes, the overall team scores tell a different story.
In a sport where the lowest point total wins, both the Tigers and Lady Tigers had their lowest team totals at the SEC Championships since 2007. In finishing ninth, the Tigers had all five scorers finish in the top 65, a drastic improvement from last season’s meet when their best finisher was 71st. With 231 points, they were just 20 shy of seventh place.
“We just got beat by teams that are better than us right now,” said LSU coach Mark Elliott. “My second, third, and fourth guys could have ran better … to push us into the middle of the pack [in the standings] like I thought we would be.”
The Tigers had four runners submit career-best SEC Championship performances, most notably junior Richard Chautin, who finished 24th overall.
The Lady Tigers were once again led by junior Laura Carleton, who has been the team’s top finisher in every meet this season. While Carleton has been consistent all year, the team has had a rotating cast of enigmatic runners take their turn supplementing Carleton’s finishes with top times of their own.
Monday, it was a pair of sophomores who stepped up with solid performances.
Charlene Lipsey finished 53rd with a time more than a minute faster than her team-best finish at last year’s conference meet. Additionally, Elliott singled out Leigh-Ann Naccari for her 68th-place finish.
Despite the low overall team finishes, Elliott said continuing to close the gap in points will lead to better positions in the standings.
“It just goes to show you how competitive the conference is,” he said. “It takes a lot to even move up one position.”