While victory is the ultimate goal in athletics, the LSU cross country teams aim to post a respectable finish tomorrow in a place they have not fared well in recently — the postseason.The Tigers and Lady Tigers will compete in the Southeastern Conference Championships at the Ole Miss Golf Course in Oxford, Miss.The meet marks the first time Ole Miss has hosted the championships since 1996.The men’s 8K race begins at 10 a.m., and the women’s 6K race will start at 11 a.m.In last season’s conference championships, the men placed 10th. The women finished last in the SEC.The Tigers’ best finish at the SEC Championships this decade came in 2000 with a fourth-place finish. The Lady Tigers’ best showing is ninth place, most recently in 2007.”Our individual goal is for everyone to run their best time on this course,” LSU coach Mark Elliott said. “If they do that, I think that will translate to a top-five finish [for the men] and a top-eight finish on the women’s side.”Both LSU teams head into the conference championships on the heels of a lackluster performance at the Chile Pepper Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., two weeks ago. The men finished No. 25, while the women placed 27th.Elliott said the teams practiced the best they have all season in preparation for the SEC meet.”The conference championship is the meet you look forward to,” he said. “These two weeks were designed to train and go into the conference meet and give the best effort possible.”On the men’s side, the Tigers will face No. 6 Alabama, No. 24 Auburn and No. 28 Arkansas, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association poll.The Lady Tigers will face No. 5 Florida and No. 29 Arkansas in addition to the rest of the conference.”We are going to have to run with each other,” said junior Ken Ehrhardt. “Leave no man behind pretty much.”Sophomore Cullen Doody has paced the Tigers all season. In each of their three meets, Doody crossed the finish line first among the Tigers with his best 8K finish in 26 minutes, 52 seconds.Several runners finished within a minute of Doody at the Chile Pepper Invitational. Juniors Tim Landry, Kyle Hecker, Sean Swanner and sophomore Frank Bohn finished within 10 seconds of one another.”It seems like we’re all running at a pretty good clip,” Ehrhardt said. “I would not be surprised if a bunch of us could keep up with [Doody]. He can help pace us.”The Lady Tigers were more inconsistent in their finishes. Three different runners — senior Katie Hamel, sophomore Jenna Henssler and freshman Charlene Lipsey — all paced the Lady Tigers so far.Hamel, who missed the team’s past two meets with an illness, will rejoin the Lady Tigers for the first time since the season opener in mid-September.”Everyone is working together,” said junior Lauren Ybarzabal. “It’s a very competitive thing.”Ybarzabal clocked in a time of 24 minutes, 57 seconds in the Chile Pepper 6K, nearly two minutes faster than her 2008 time in the event.—–Contact Jonathan Schexnayder at [email protected]