LA Tech Men's Cross Country Places 10th at Chile Pepper Invitational

 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Paul Sakit led the Bulldogs for the third consecutive meet as Louisiana Tech finished 10th at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville Saturday morning.

LA Tech finished one spot ahead of LSU and three spots ahead of TCU in the challenging meet that featured 14 teams and 326 runners overall.

The race was delayed 75 minutes due to inclement weather in the Fayetteville area.

“We had a much better effort overall his week,” head coach Gary Stanley said. “Of our team, five of the eight runners ran lifetime bests despite running on a very muddy and slippery course. It was a good team effort overall.”

The meet marked the first 8,000 meter race of the season for the Bulldogs. LA Tech’s top three runners finished in the top half of the field.

Sakit ran 26:09.3 to finish 72nd overall while Anthony Plourde finished 82nd with a time of 26:18.8. Taylor Ashton placed 126th with a time of 26:52.8 while Tom Stringer ran 27:25.3 to place 167 and Tor Gatch rounded out the five scorers for the Bulldogs with a time of 27:40.0, finished 183rd.

The men’s team returns to action on Oct. 18 as the Bulldogs will run at the Crimson Classic hosted by Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. while the women’s team will run at the Demon Invitational in Natchitoches, La. on Oct. 12 in a meet hosted by Northwestern State.