ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- LSU\'s men\'s and women\'s cross country teams opened the season with a pair of sixth-place finishes Saturday at the Lobo Invitational on the UNM North Golf Course.
UTEP had four of its five scorers finish in the top six to take home the men\'s crown with 29 points. Texas A&M (75), New Mexico (78), Colorado-Colorado Springs (133) and New Mexico Highlands (166) finished ahead of the Tigers who tallied 180 points.
Texas A&M secured the women\'s team title with 35 points as four of their five runners finished among the meet\'s top 10. New Mexico (35), Colorado-Colorado Springs (71), UTEP (144), Fort Lewis (146) and the Lady Tigers (151) followed.
"Overall I think the women had a good showing today," said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. "The men, even without our top-two runners, I thought would be in the top four as a team, but I still feel like we had some individuals do well."
For the men, freshman Brett Borne led all Tigers, running the 8K course in 27:25 to place 25th overall.
Junior Michael Hendry and freshmen Alan Sticker and Michael Florek were just off Borne\'s pace finishing 35th, 36th and 37th, respectively, with times of 27:42, 27:43 and 27:46.
Junior Jeffrey Parker rounded out the Tigers\' scoring, placing 48th in 28:15.
"I thought the freshmen did real well today," said Elliott. "They are used to running three miles and they ran five today for the first time and had good showings."
For the women, junior Rachael Graham turned in LSU\'s only top-10 finish of the day, running the 6K course in a speedy 23:26 to place ninth overall.
"Rachael ran really well," said Elliott. "She improved her time on this course by over a minute from last year so I can\'t be anything but pleased with her effort."
Fellow juniors Megan Broussard, Lindsay Day, Christy Zirkle and Katie Dawson rounded out the list of scorers for the Lady Tigers. Broussard and Day finished 27th and 36th, respectively, stopping the clock at 24:40 and 25:10. Zirkle was just behind in 25:27 and Dawson finished in 25:44.
Up next, both the men\'s and women\'s cross country squads will take next weekend off before returning to action on Saturday, Sept. 23, at their own LSU Invitational at Highland Road Park.
TEAM RESULTSMen
1. UTEP, 29
2. Texas A&M, 75
3. New Mexico, 78
4. Colorado-Colorado Springs, 133
5. New Mexico Highlands, 166
6. LSU, 180
7. Wayland Baptist, 196
8. Eastern New Mexico, 199
9. Western New Mexico, 262
10. Fort Lewis, 269
11. Regis, 283
12. Dine, 284
13. El Pass CC, 344Women
1. Texas A&M, 35
2. New Mexico, 54
3. Colorado-Colorado Springs, 71
4. UTEP, 144
5. Fort Lewis, 146
6. LSU, 151
7. Wayland Baptist, 200
8. Yavapai, 215
9. Eastern New Mexico, 221
10. New Mexico Highlands, 276
11. Regis, 296
12. El Paso CC, 321
13. Dine, 372
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winner plus all LSU runners)
Men
1, Stephen Samoei, UTEP, 24:47. 25, Brett Borne, 27:25. 35, Michael Hendry, 27:42. 36, Alan Sticker, 27:43. 37, Michael Florek, 27:46. 48, Jeffrey Parker, 28:15. 51, Jace Gohres, 28:21. 62, Matthew Guy, 28:45. 63, Harold Boutte, 28:46. 77, Jonathan Thomas, 29:34.
Women
1, Merideth Snow, Texas A&M, 22:00. 9, Rachael Graham, 23:26. 27, Megan Broussard, 24:40. 36, Lindsay Day, 25:10. 41, Christy Zirkle, 25:27. 48, Katie Dawson, 25:44. 54, Sarah Colosimo, 25:59.