TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The LSU men’s cross country team came up with one of its best efforts in more than a decade, finishing second out of 23 teams at the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Lady Tiger finished 11th in the women’s competition.
Led by a sixth place finish from Likhaya Dayile, the Tigers delivered a message of credibility on the course that will host the Southeastern Conference Championships next month, placing higher than any of the SEC schools on hand.
“This was a big breakthrough for us,” said LSU coach Mark Elliott. “This was a very competitive field here and I hope that we gained some respect with this performance.”
Dayile, running his first cross country event for LSU, finished the men’s eight-kilometer course in 24 minutes, 9 seconds to lead the Tigers. Dayile was the SEC runner-up in the 10,000-meter run during the outdoor track and field season a year ago.
Kenny Henry placed 16th, followed by Jimmy Wiggins in 25th, Brent Martin in 33rd and Billy Bohlke in 46th to round out the Tigers five scorers. Chris Mutai of Alabama won the individual title in a time of 23:56.
South Florida won the team title with 50 points, followed by LSU with 126. Alabama finished third, followed by Kentucky and Belmont to round out the top five teams.
The Lady Tigers were led by junior Bridget Cusack who finished 22nd, finishing the women’s 5k course in a time of 18:19. Susanne Strunz finished 29th, while Megan Szmejda finished 61st.
South Florida won the women’s title as well with 55 points, while Ashley LaBudde of Alabama won the indivdual title in a time of 17:04.
LSU travels to Dallas next weekend for the SMU Invitational.