Cross Country Teams Finish Seventh at Lobo Invitational

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- LSU\'s men\'s and women\'s cross country teams opened up the 2005 season with a pair of seventh place finishes Saturday at the Lobo Invitational on New Mexico\'s North Golf Course.

\"Overall, I felt like it was a pretty good performance for our first meet,\" said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. \"I think the women ran well and placed well based on the teams that were here. The men didn\'t perform as well as I thought they would, but we aren\'t going to make any excuses for that.\"

The Lady Tigers tallied 224 points behind top finishes by junior Kate Accardo and sophomore Rachael Graham.

Accardo finished the 6K course in 24:14 to place 38th overall. Graham was just off her pace, placing 42nd with a time of 24:26.

Adams State, the two-time defending Division II national champions, won the women\'s meet with 30 points, while Colorado State (59) and New Mexico (89) rounded out the top three.

On the men\'s side, Adams State completed the sweep of the meet\'s team titles, notching 44 points. Western State followed in second with 62 points and Colorado State was third with 75 points. The Tiger finished with 184 points.

Individually, LSU turned in a pair of top-35 finishes as senior Patrick Gavin ran the 8K course in 26:24 to finish 30th overall and Drew Haro followed in 35th with a time of 26:32.

The Tigers and Lady Tigers return to action Oct. 8 when they travel to Auburn, Ala., for the Auburn Invitational.

TEAM RESULTS (Top 10 only)

Men
1. Adams State, 44 
2. Western State, 62
3. Colorado State, 75
4. UTEP, 86
5. New Mexico, 153
6. Texas Tech, 170
7. LSU, 184
8. Eastern New Mexico, 262
9. Fort Lewis College, 283
10. Western New Mexico, 283

Women
1. Adams State, 30
2. Colorado State, 59
3. New Mexico, 89
4. Western State, 99
5. Texas Tech, 108
6. Fort Lewis College, 166
7. LSU, 224
8. UTEP, 243
9. Yavapai College, 267
10. Western New Mexico, 316  

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winner plus all LSU finishers)
Men
1, Patrick Mutai, UTEP, 24:28. 30, Patrick Gavin, 26:24. 35, Drew Haro, 26:32. 54, Michael Hendry, 27:09. 61, Sam Mwape, 27:26. 63, Jim Presley, 27:28. 85, Jacen Lanclos, 28:12. 92, Jace Gohres, 28:24. 94, Matthew Guy, 28:30. 96, Robby Stevens, 28:35.

Women
1, Jackie Gallegos, UNM, 21:37. 38, Kate Accardo, 24:14. 42, Rachael Graham, 24:26. 56, Michelle Hymel, 24:54. 65, Megan Broussard, 25:08. 69, Jennifer Stark, 25:14. 74, Christy Zirkle, 25:29. 77, Jennifer Radecker, 25:35. 80, Lindsay Day, 25:45. 91, Megan Kliebert, 26:35.