NEW ORLEANS — The LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams came up with solid debut performances, as both squads finished third in their respective races Friday evening at the Tulane Invitational at Levee Oaks Park in New Orleans.
Ryan Raiford led the Tigers with a fourth place finish in the men’s competition, while Lindsay Daigle paced the Lady Tigers with a fifth place finish in the women’s race.
Despite not running a number of top runners on both sides, LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott was enthused with the results posted by each team.
“I’m very pleased with what I saw today, I think we got some very strong efforts from athletes that were put to the test,” said Elliott. “We had a good, competitive effort on both sides and I like what I got from a number of my athletes today, it was a very successful competition for us.”
Raiford finished the men’s three-mile race in a time of 15 minutes 07.20 seconds to post the highest finish of his career. Brandon Guillory finished 10th for the Tigers, followed by Jarrett Roche’ in 13th, Jason Carroll in 15th and Ben Shumaker 16th to round out the Tigers’ top five.
Solomon Kandie of host-Tulane won the event with a time of 14:33.30, averaging a stellar 4:41 per mile in the process.
Alabama won the men’s competition with 32 points, however, while Tulane finished second with 45 points and the Tigers third with 58 in the eight-team field.
For the Lady Tigers, Daigle completed the women’s course in 12:18.10, while freshman Katie Denton finished four spots back in 10th place. Megan Szmajda placed 16th, followed by Katrina Flanders in 22nd and Sarah Bailey 25th to round out the Lady Tigers’ top five.
Eva Lusitgova of Tulane edged teammate Katrina Gemmell to win the women’s individual title in a time of 11:42.20. Lusitgova averaged a solid 5:51 per mile in victory.
Tulane won the women’s competition with 69 points, edging Alabama and LSU, which finished with 74 and 78 points respectively in the 11-team competition.
LSU will take next weekend off to prepare for its first competition with a full squad, when both the men’s and women’s teams head to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Lobo Invitational on Sept. 22.