BATON ROUGE- The LSU women’s cross country team picked up its second victory of the season, while the Tigers finished second in the men’s team competition at the LSU Invitational at Highland Road Park Saturday morning.
Despite wet and muddy conditions, The Lady Tigers finished tied with Tulane with 46 points, but the Lady Tigers’ sixth place finisher was higher than Tulane’s, giving LSU the tiebreaker and title.
Today was a perfect example of why you need depth in your squads, said LSU head coach Pat Henry. It’s not always just your top five, it’s your sixth, seventh and eighth runners that need to step it up as well and everyone competed extremely well today.
The Lady Tigers were paced by Bridget Cusack and Amanda Occhi who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Cusack finished the women’s five-kilometer course in 18 minutes 39.13 seconds, while Occhi finished in 18:44.09.
Susanne Strunz finished 10th, followed by Staci Cusimano in 12th and Lindsay Daigle in 15th to round out the Lady Tigers’ top five. But it was the sixth position that decided Saturday’s women’s race. LSU’s Lauren Byrd finished 19th, while Tulane’s sixth runner, Lana Garner, finished 32nd.
Hanne Lygnstad of Tulane won the women’s individual title for her third consecutive win on the season. Lyngstad finished the course in a time of 17:30.26.
McNeese State finished third, followed by Southern Mississippi and Louisiana-Lafayette to round out the top five.
The Tigers placed second to Southern Mississippi, who finished with a score of 36. The Tigers were led by Billy Bohlke who finished eighth with a time of 25:58.88 over eighth kilometers.
Frans Schimper finished 10th, followed by Frank Ensley in 12th, Kenny Henry in 16th and Brandon Guillory in 17th to round out the Tigers five scorers.
Yoursi El Mejdoubi of Southern Mississippi won the men’s event with a time of 24:59.28. Tulane finished third in the men’s competition, followed by McNeese State and Louisiana Tech to round out the top five teams.
Both LSU squads head to Fayetteville, Ark., next weekend for the Chilli Pepper Invitational, LSU’s final test before the SEC Championships on October 30.
Results of the LSU Invitational
Saturday, October 9, 1999
Highland Road Park
Baton Rouge, La.
Men’s Team Scores
1, Southern Mississippi, 36. 2, LSU, 63. 3, Tulane, 74. 4, McNeese State, 78. 5, Louisiana Tech, 156. 6, Nicholls State, 157. 7, Louisiana-Lafayette, 169. 8, Southeastern Louisiana, 171. 9,Loyola, 244.
Men’s Individual Results – Top 15 (8k)
1, Yoursi El Mejdoubi, Southern Mississippi, 24:59.28. 2, Solomon Kandie, Tulane, 25:02.26. 3,Kevin Smelley, Nicholls State, 25:16.81. 4, Paul Kemei, Southern Mississippi, 25:18.66. 5, Jacob Busienei, Tulane, 25:51. 34. 6, Jason Foolkes, McNeese State, 25:56.33. 7, Chris Koech, Southern Mississippi, 25:58.17. 8, Billy Bohlke, LSU, 25:58.88. 9, Matt Amos, McNeese State, 26:02.37. 10, Frans Schimper, LSU, 26:08.73. 11, Jaime Arriaga, Southern Mississippi, 26:10.89. 12, Frank Ensley, LSU, 26:11.82. 13, Samuel Cheraisi, Southern Mississippi, 26:13.38. 14, Robert Walterscheid, Louisiana Tech, 26:41.01. 15, Peter Rotich, Tulane, 26:48.19.
Women’s Team Scores
1, LSU, 46. 2, Tulane, 46. 3, McNeese, 54. 4, Southern Mississippi, 134. 5, Louisiana-Lafayette, 146. 6, Southeastern Louisiana, 172. 7, New Orleans, 186. 8, Loyola (N.O.), 199. 9, Alcorn State, 267. 10, Nicholls State, 268.
Women’s Individual Results – Top 15 (5k)
1, Hanne Lyngstad, Tulane, 17:30.26. 2, Sita Waru, McNeese State, 17:54.13. 3, Theresa Maru, Tulane, 18:18.01. 4, Bridget Cusack, LSU, 18:39.13. 5, Amanda Ochhi, 18:44.09. 6, Jana Bulirova, New Orleans, 18:44.45. 7, Katrina Gemmell, Tulane, 18:47.78. 8, Sarah Davies, McNeese State, 18:51.51. 9, Julie Hotard, 18:55.05. 10, Susanne Strunz, LSU, 18:56.25. 11, Rachel Duckham, McNeese State, 18:57.58. 12, Staci Cusimano, LSU, 19:13.51. 13, Rebecca Thornell-Lee, Southern Mississippi, 19:14.27. 14, Hanna Ritakailio, Tulane, 19:15.38. 15, Lindsay Daigle, LSU, 19:16.43.