NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams stepped it up Saturday, both finishing third at the Pre-SEC meet in Nashville, Tenn.
The Tigers built upon last week’s win at home, finishing third out of 15 teams in the men’s eight-kilometer run, while the Lady Tigers finished third out of 14 teams in the women’s 5k event.
“It was the first time for many of our athletes to get into a little bigger field,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “It was a pretty good follow-up to a nice opener last week. Obviously, we have some fluctuation with a couple of people, but overall it was a good performance for our team.”
The Tigers finished with 74 points, trailing Georgia (44) and Belmont (62). The Tigers were paced by Billy Bohlke and Frans Schimper, who finished eighth and ninth respectively. Bohlke finished the 8k course in 26 minutes 54.35 seconds, while Schimper ran a time of 26:58.15.
Kenny Henry finished 15th in 27:25.73, followed by Ryan Raiford in 23rd in a time of 27:40.75 and Josh Calmes in 25 in 27:47.12 to round out the Tigers’ top five.
William Kemey of Belmont won the event in a time of 25:34.86, over 30 seconds faster than the runner-up time.
On the women’s side, the Lady Tigers finished with 78 points, trailing Georgia (64) and host Vanderbilt (67).
Martina Barkman paced the Lady Tigers for the second consecutive weekend, finishing the women’s 5k course in 18:30.88.
Amanda Occhi finished 14th (18:44.72), followed by Susanne Stunz in 17th (18:46.60), Staci Cusimano in 18th (18:47.14) and Bridget Cusack in 21st (18:55.64) to round out the Lady Tigers’ top five.
Beth Van Dusen of Vanderbilt won the women’s competition in a time of 17:51.79, over 10 seconds faster than the runner-up time.
In what was primarily a preview of the SEC Championships, to be held at the same course, the Tigers finished second among participating SEC teams, while the Lady Tigers finished third among conference schools.
Both the LSU men’s and women’s teams return to action next Saturday when both travel to the Cajun Classic hosted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.