LSU Press Release:
Women's Cross Country Fourth at Chile Pepper
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The LSU men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend where they participated in the most competitive meet of the season, the Chile Pepper Festival held at Agri Park.
The Lady Tigers continued to exceed expectations by posting another solid performance at this weekends meet. The team placed fourth overall with a total of 174 points in the 6k race.
"The women are doing extremely well," LSU head coachMark Elliott said. "I have been around a long time and that is probably the highest team finish for the women in a big cross country race."
Senior runner Laura Carleton, who placed in the top five for her third straight meet, once again led the Lady Tigers. Carleton finished the race fourth out of 341 runners and clocked in with a time of 20 minutes, 59.9 seconds.
"Laura Carleton was fourth place overall," Elliott said. "To look at her performance from when she started at LSU up until now, the improvement is amazing."
Other leading finishers for the Lady Tigers included junior Natoya Goule who came in 32nd with a time of 22:06.2 and senior Dakota Goodman who came in 43rd with a time of 22:15.8.
On the men's side, the Tigers were once again led by senior Roger Cooke who finished 107th overall and posted a time of 33:00.7 in the 10k race.
"For the men, I think it is their best race of the year," Elliott said. "It is the longest distance we have run so far, but collectively as a group they ran extremely well."
The men placed 22nd overall with a total of 641 points.
The next action for the LSU cross country teams will come when they travel to compete in the SEC Championship meet after a week of rest. The race will take place in Nashville, Tenn. At Percy Warner Park, a course the teams have already competed on this season. The women's race will begin at 10 a.m. CDT followed by the men's race at 11 a.m.
Follow the LSU men's and women's cross country teams on Twitter @LSUTrackField and at www.facebook.com/lsutrackfield.
Team Results
Men's Team Results (Top 10 and LSU)
1. Oklahoma State 20
2. Texas Tech 109
3. Texas A&M- Corpus Christi 173
4. LMU 181
4. South Dakota State 181
6. Texas at Arlington 207
7. Stephen F. Austin State 227
8. Richmond 241
9. High Point 259
10. Oklahoma Christian 289
22. LSU 641
Women's Team Results (Top 10 and LSU)
1. Arkansas 58
2. Oklahoma State 103
3. SMU 155
4. LSU 174
5. LMU 181
6. James Madison 206
7. Richmond 224
8. UTSA 241
9. TCU 225
10. Nevada 263
Individual Results
Men's Individual Results (Winner and LSU Only)
1. Kennedy Kithuka (Texas Tech) 28:53.0; 107. Roger Cooke 33:00.7; 151. Phillip Primeaux 33:37.1; 160.Bryan Mutell 33:50.0; 166. Travis Pope 33:56.6; 222. William Wiesler 34:40.8; 250. Barrett Miller 35:14.8; 255. Daniel Nally 35:34.4; 275. Aaron Koenck 36:15.4
Women's Team Results (Winner and LSU Only)
1. Jess Engel (Oklahoma) 20:42.1; 4. Laura Carleton 20:59.9; 32. Natoya Goule 22:06.2; 43. Dakota Goodman 22:15.8; 55. Brea Goodman 22:28.5; 57. Charlene Lipsey 22:32.2; 61. Leigh-Ann Nacarri 22:34.4; 136. Laura Aleman 23:39.3; 185. Andria Aguilar 24:24.0; 288. Michelle Mobley 26:18.0
Northwestern Press Release:
FAYETVILLE, Ark. – Mitch Landry and Sarah Emory led the Northwestern State cross country teams on Saturday as the Demons and the Lady Demons competed in the Chile Pepper Invitational at the University of Arkansas.
The No. 11 host Razorbacks took first place in the women's 6,000-meter race. Other women's teams present included eight top-10 teams and No. 22 Oklahoma State.
No. 2 Oklahoma State took first place in the men's 10,000-meter race.
Emory finished 112th with a time of 23:16.1, followed by Karensa Ellis in 207th in 24:41.1. Ali Fontenot trailed Ellis as she finished 212th with a time of 24:45.7. Becca Meehan(26:08.7) and Maya Robertson (30:43.8) also competed for the Lady Demons.
In the men's race, Landry took 82nd place running the 10,000 meter course in 32:40:01. Alex Hebert finished second for the Demons, tackling the course in 34:13.8.
Other runners for the men's team included Jeremy Elliot (35:39.5), John Broughton (36:29.8), Albert Gladney (36:39.9) and Chris Lanier (39:45.2).
The Demons and Lady Demons will Host the Demon Invitational on Friday at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex.
ULM Press Release:
FAYATTEVILLE, Ark.- ULM senior Daniel Mutai led all Warhawk and Sun Belt finishers at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival Saturday, as he notched a 20th place finish. The Kapsabet, Kenya native covered the 10,000 meter course in 31:11.4. Texas Tech's Kennedy Kithuka grabbed the individual crown, as he turned in a 28:53 performance and bested the field by over a minute. Oklahoma State, the overall team champion, swept the rest of the top five sports. One of the premier collegiate cross country races in the country, the Festival featured over 300 collegiate runners.
The Warhawks were unable to get a team score because senior Britt Koestler's timing chip was lost during the race and only four ULM runners officially finished. However, Head Coach Karoly Varga was happy with his team's performance. "Mutai and Silah Chumba had really good days," the second year coach said. "We are pretty much on the same pace as last year." Chumba grabbed a 74th place finish with a 32:33.3 clocking. Chumba improved his finish place-wise by over forty spots from a year ago.
Junior Hillary Kirwa, who has been running extremely well so far this season, was hampered by a calf injury that forced him to slow to near-walking pace in the last mile. He finished in 273rd place overall.
Also competing for ULM was Austin Thomas, who clocked a time of 41:17.
The Warhawk men will be off for two weeks before heading to Bowling Green, Ky. for the Sun Belt Conference Championship meet. "The next two weeks will be very important training wise," Varga said. "The team will be ready to roll at conference and regionals, which is our goal all season."
The 2012 Sun Belt Championships will kick off at 10:00 a.m. CT, as the Warhawks and the rest of the conference try to knock off defending champion Western Kentucky.
McNeese Press Release:
The Cowgirl cross country team took part in the Arkansas Chile Pepper Country Festival in Fayetteville and finished in 23rd place out of 43 teams.
Fionnuala Ross was the first Cowgirl to complete the 6k race with a time of 22:27.3 for a 49th place finish. Amy Talbot ran a 23:41.4 followed by Laura Casey at 24:00.1, Allison Crawford with a 24:01.5, Lauren Cooper with a 24:22.2, Sarah Van Horn in at 24:38.9, and Corissa Storms at 24:47.6.