BATON ROUGE -- In their only home meet of the season, the LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams enjoyed a successful morning as they finished third and fourth, respectively, Saturday morning at Highland Road Park. The LSU men’s team finished with 87 points in the 8K race, while the Lady Tigers posted 94 in the 5K. “Obviously we had some advantages of running at home,” LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott said. “I think looking at the overall performance from last week and this week, both groups ran well. The men came back and did a whole lot better, because last week I didn’t think they did as good as they were charted to do.” The University of Houston won the overall team titles in both the men’s and women’s race, with 29 and 40 points, respectively. The Cougars also had the top finisher in the women’s race, Stephanie Aldea, who clocked a 19.01.00 over the 5K course. Aldea was also the women’s top finisher at the LSU Invitational in 2008. Leading the LSU men’s team for the second week in a row was sophomore Cullen Doody, who clocked a 27:19.01, good for 16th place. Also placing in the top 25 for LSU was junior Kyle Hecker, whose 27:45.42 earned a 21st place finish, and freshman Kyle Steele, who clocked a 27:50.50 and earned a 23rd place finish. Hecker and Steele each clocked season-best times. On the women’s side, the Lady Tigers were paced by sophomore Jenna Henssler’s 13th place time of 19:58.49. Following right behind Henssler in 14th place was freshman Charlene Lipsey, who clocked a 20:00.69. Also finishing in the top 25 for LSU were sophomores Laura Carleton and Amber Abbott, who clocked times of 20:38.06, and 20:41.49, respectively. Carleton’s time earned her 22nd place, while Abbott finished 24th. Both the men’s and women’s teams will have three weeks to rest and train before traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the Chile Pepper Invitational on October 17. Men’s Results (Top 10 only) Women’s Results (Top 10 only) Women’s Top Finishers (Winner, then LSU runners)
1. Houston, 29
2. Mississippi Valley, 57
3. LSU, 87
4. SE Louisiana, 93
5. Louisiana-Lafayette, 136
6. Tulane, 191
7. Xavier-Louisiana, 204
8. Jackson State, 244
9. Nicholls State, 249
10. Southern, 303
Top Finishers (Winner, LSU runners)
1. Kemboi, Kalphys SE Louisiana 25:38.71. 16, Cullen Doody, 27:19.01. 21, Kyle Hecker , 27:45.42. 23,Kyle Steele, 27:50.50. 26, Tim Landry, 27:55.50. 29. Frank Bohn, 27:59.69. 30, Luke Dessauer, 27:59.96. 32, Sean Swanner, 28:03.27. 36, Kenneth Schiffman, 28:22.24. 38, Paras Shah, 28:30.35. 51, Roger Cooke, 29:25.98. 59, Sadiki White, 30:11.54.
1. Houston, 40
2. Nicholls State, 56
3. Lamar, 65
4. LSU, 94
5. Tulane, 143
6. SE Louisiana, 151
7. Louisiana-Lafayette, 180
8. Mississippi College, 237
9. Jackson State, 244
10. Xavier-Louisiana