While many teams measure progress in wins, the LSU cross country teams will have to settle for second place once again.
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers earned runner-up finishes Saturday at the McNeese State Cowboy Stampede. It was the Tigers’ third such result in as many meets, and the Lady Tigers’ second runner-up finish in three races.
Junior Richard Chautin finished in third place, preventing host McNeese State from sweeping the first five positions and tallying a perfect score. It was Chautin’s third top-three finish this year, as he previously won the Bulldog Invitational and finished second in the LSU Invitational.
The Lady Tigers were paced by junior Laura Carleton, who crossed the line in third place with a career-best 5K time of 18 minutes, 6.10 seconds.
“It just goes to show if you put the work in and train hard and show some passion … you can experience some success,” said LSU coach Mark Elliott of Chautin and Carleton.
Also finishing in the top five was sophomore Charlene Lipsey, who has steadily progressed after sustaining an injury in the offseason. Lipsey ended the race in fifth place with a time of 18 minutes, 14.1 seconds.
Lipsey, LSU’s top finisher at the Southeastern Conference Championships last season, struggled to a 32nd-place finish at the LSU Invitational. However, she rebounded from that result to record her fastest time of the season by nearly 90 seconds.
The Lady Tigers were hampered by the absence of twins Brea and Dakota Goodman, who sat out with slight injuries. Both had been among LSU’s top- three finishers in each of the first two meets.
Elliott described it as a precautionary measure to ensure they’re healthy for Arkansas’ grueling Chile Pepper Festival next week.
“While every meet is important, this is the one I figured I could hold them out and get them prepared for Chile Pepper next week,” he said.
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Contact Ryan Ginn at [email protected]