NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The LSU women’s cross country team came up with its best team finish ever at the Southeastern Conference Championships, placing fourth, while a lower leg injury to the Tigers’ Billy Bohlke took the men’s team from middle of the pack to eighth Saturday morning in Nashville.
The Lady Tigers came just six points away from finishing third, but nonetheless, improved on their previous best finish ever, a fifth place showing in 1996.
“Just a fantastic outing for the ladies. If one or two more things breaks our way then we’re sitting second or third,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “Scholarship-wise, we haven’t been able to invest as much money in our distance group as some of the other teams we were competing against, so for these ladies to finish in the top four is an incredible accomplishment that they should be very proud of.”
“On the men’s side, we ran well, but not having Billy (Bohlke) drops us a few places. I think with Billy here we could have been fifth or sixth.”
The Lady Tigers were led by sophomore Martina Barkman, who finished 13th, the highest finish for an LSU woman since Silje Rasmussen finished fourth in 1996. Barkman finished the women’s five-kilometer course in 18 minutes 22 seconds.
The trio of Suzanne Strunz, Bridget Cusack and Amanda Occhi finished 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively. Lauren Byrd rounded out the Lady Tigers’ top five with a 42nd place finish.
As expected, Arkansas dominated the event, winning the team titles on both sides. In the women’s competition the Lady ‘Backs took the top five places, led by Amy Yoder, who smashed the Percy Warner Park course record by 41 seconds, finishing with a time of 16:54.
Florida finished a distant second with 96 points, followed by Georgia with 112, LSU with 118 and South Carolina with 133 to round out the top five.
The Arkansas men nearly matched their women’s effort, taking five of the top six spots with only a fourth place finish from Tim Broe of Alabama preventing Arkansas from making a clean sweep in both races. Michael Power won the men’s 8k event in a time of 24:10.6.
The Tigers missed the presence of Billy Bohlke who had been their top runner on four occasions this season. Bohlke missed Saturday’s conference meet with a lower leg injury.
The Tigers were led by by Frans Schimper who finished 29th in a time of 26:31.6. Frank Ensley finished 33rd in a time of 26:48, followed by Brent Martin in 38th, Kenny Henry in 42nd and Cordell Seals in 50th.
Tennessee finished a distant second in the men’s competition with 59 points, followed by Alabama, Florida and Georgia to round out the top five.
Both LSU teams will take next weekend off before competing at the NCAA South Central Regional in Denton, Texas on November 13.
Southeastern Conference Cross Country Championships
October 30, 1999
Percy Warner Park
Nashville, Tenn.
Men’s Results
Team Competition
1, Arkansas, 17. 2, Tennessee, 59. 3, Alabama, 73. 4, Florida, 102. 5, Georgia, 151. 6, Kentucky, 186. 7, Auburn, 191. 8, LSU, 192. 9, Vanderbilt, 290. 10, Ole Miss, 295.
Individual Results (8k)
Champion – Michael Power, Arkansas, 24:10.6
LSU Finishers
29, Frans Schimper, 26:31.6. 33, Frank Ensley, 26:48.8. 38, Brent Martin, 27:14.2. 42, Kenny Henry, 27:23.9. 50, Cordelle Seals, 27:42.6. 52, Ryan Raiford, 28:02.3.
Women’s Results
Team Competition
1, Arkansas, 15. 2, Florida, 96. 3, Georgia, 112. 4, LSU, 118. 5, South Carolina, 133. 6, Alabama, 169. 7, Auburn, 174. 8, Vanderbilt, 186. 9, Tennessee, 191. 10, Mississippi State, 248. 11, Ole Miss, 305. 12, Kentukcy, 311.
Individual Results (5k)
Champion – Amy Yoder, Arkansas, 16:54.0 (New course record. Old record, 17:35, Jessica Fry, Alabama, 1994)
LSU Finishers
13, Martina Barkman, 18:22.0. 20, Susanne Strunz, 18:37.2. 21, Bridget Cusack, 18:38.4. 22, Amanda Occhi, 18:38.6. 42, Lauren Byrd, 19:27.2. 54, Lindsay Daigle, 20:00.1. 59, Kristen Gutierrez, 20:13.3. 66, Staci Cusimano, 20:41.8.