BOISE, IDAHO-- The Louisiana Tech Bulldog Cross Country team finished third out of six Saturday morning at the WAC Cross Country Championships in Boise, Idaho.
"It was a story of youth and inexperience," head coach Gary Stanley said of his team's performance. "We knew Utah State was going to have a good day, and they basically slam dunked the meet. I thought we had a good shot at second place."
The Bulldogs finished behind Utah State and Idaho for third with Utah State scoring 16 points, one point away from a clean sweep. Idaho finished with 75 points with Tech at 88.
"I thought we should have done better," Stanley said. "I'm not happy with third place. Second should have been attainable."
Junior Tim Marshall led the way for the Bulldogs with a ninth place finish and a time of 25 minutes, 59.07 seconds, while sophomore Kinsey Dinnel finished thirteenth at 26:06.05. Both Marshall and Dinnel earning Second Team All-WAC honors.
Sophomore Zach Schuler followed for Tech at 26:36.71 for a seventeenth placing, while senior Karoly Varga finished at 27:09.16 and freshman Welson Wilson finished at 27:15.99 for places of 23 and 27 respectively.
Sophomore Nate Davis, freshman Cody Bouillion and freshman Jace Beniot rounded out the finishes for Tech.
Coach Stanley said that even with the inexperience, he believes his team can be successful next season.
"We were young this season," Stanley said. "If the guys are willing to learn and set their sights hight, great things will happen next year."