AUBURN, Ala. -- Behind a 12th-place finish by junior Drew Haro, the LSU men\'s cross country team turned in a season-best fifth-place finish Saturday at the Auburn Invitational on the Indian Pines Golf Course. The Lady Tigers finished 13th in the final team standings.
Host-Auburn won the men\'s team title, scoring 99 points, to hold off runner-up New Mexico (118) and third-place finisher Georgia State (131). The Tigers tallied 186 total points in securing their fifth-place finish.
In the women\'s team race, Samford and Lamar finished in the top two spots with 86 and 99 points, respectively. Alabama rounded out the top three (138), while the Lady Tigers totaled 323 points.
Individually, Haro recorded the Tigers\' first top-15 performance of the season finishing the 8K course in an LSU season-best 24:26.34. He was followed by senior Patrick Gavin who placed 31st with a time of 24:49.14.
Other scorers for the Tigers included sophomore Michael Hendry (49th, 25:00.03), senior Sam Mwape (50th, 25:14.35) and freshman Jacob Simmons (59th, 25:25.00).
For the women, senior Michelle Hymel paced the Lady Tiger squad over the 5K course, crossing the line in 18:12.54 to place 42nd. Junior Kate Accardo was next, finishing 67th with a time of 18:38.28. Sophomores Christy Zirkle (70th, 18:45.19) and Lindsay Day (83rd, 18:55.94) and junior Jennifer Radecker (86th, 18:58.60) also scored for LSU.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers return to action next weekend when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Chile Pepper Invitational.
TEAM RESULTS (Top 5 plus LSU only)
Men
1. Auburn, 99
2. New Mexico, 118
3. Georgia State, 131
4. Mississippi State, 184
5. LSU, 186Women
1. Samford, 86
2. Lamar, 99
3. Alabama, 138
4. Mississippi State, 148
5. South Florida, 177
13. LSU, 323
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winner plus all LSU competitors)
Men
1, Vincent Rono, South Alabama, 23:33.46. 12, Drew Haro, 24:26.34. 31, Patrick Gavin, 25:00.03. 49, Michael Hendry, 25:00.03. 50, Sam Mwape, 25:14.35. 59, Jacob Simmons, 25:25.00. 68, Roland LeBlanc, 25:36.71. 89, Matthew Guy, 25:52.99. 91, James Presley, 25:56.07. 109, Robby Stevens, 26:08.05. 138, Jeff Adolph, 26:41.96.
Women
1, Shannon Womack, Chattanooga, 16:20.57. 42, Michelle Hymel, 18:12.54. 67, Kate Accardo, 18:38.28. 70, Christy Zirkle, 18:45.19. 83, Lindsay Day, 18:55.94. 86, Jennifer Radecker, 18:58.60. 88, Jennifer Stark, 19:00.19. 103, Megan Broussard, 19:06.64. 106, Katie Dawson, 19:13.40. 114, Megan Kliebert, 19:20.29. 120, Rachael Graham, 19:23.08. 151, Jennifer Davis, 19:54.07. 170, Lynley Roche\', 20:27.03