BATON ROUGE — After a two-week hiatus, the LSU cross country team returns to action on Saturday when both squads travel to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Lobo Invitational at Paradise Hills Golf Club.
The women will open with a 6-kilometer run at 10 a.m., while the men will follow with an 8k race at 10:30.
The competition is the second of the year for LSU. Both squads opened the season on Sept. 7 with third place finishes at the Tulane Invitational. LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott did not use a number of his key runners, however, saving them for this weekend and their first significant competition.
“This is a very good competition this weekend,” said Elliott. “We’re going to use full squads on both sides and see what kind of team we have. There are some quality programs in the field on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how we respond to running at the altitude of Albuquerque.”
The meet will be a family affair, as host-New Mexico is coached by Matt Henry, brother of LSU track and field coach Pat Henry and father of LSU cross country runner Kenny Henry. In addition, Mark Henry, younger brother of Pat and Matt, serves as associate head coach on the New Mexico staff.
In addition to LSU and New Mexico, other teams competing on Saturday morning include UNLV, Air Force and Dine College.
Wyoming was also scheduled to compete, but due to the tragic accident on Sept. 16 that claimed the lives of eight cross country runners, the team will not compete.
Saturday’s competition will mark the season debuts for LSU’s Likhaya Dayile and Susanne Strunz. Dayile posted a top 10 finish at the SEC Championships for the Tigers in 2000 and became LSU’s first men’s NCAA Championship qualifier since 1994.
Strunz earned All-SEC honors a year ago with a 15th place finish at the SEC Championships and is among the top returning women’s runners in the league this year.
Following the New Mexico Lobo Invitational, both squads travel to the Auburn next weekend. The Auburn Invitational will be held next Saturday on the same course that will host the SEC Championships on Oct. 29.