BATON ROUGE — The LSU cross country team welcomes a field of 10 teams to Highland Road Park in Baton Rouge for the LSU Invitational, its lone home meet of the 2001 season.
The women will get underway at 8:30 a.m. with a 6-kilometer run, while the men will follow at 9 a.m. with an 8k race.
The meet takes on added significance for LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott, as his men’s and women’s squads will compete for the second to last time before the SEC Championships at the end of the month.
LSU will look to improve upon last year’s finish when both squads finished third. The field will be every bit as challenging this year, however, as Tulane, the defending champion in both races returns, as does McNeese State which finished second in both races a year ago.
“Tulane, in my opinion, is one the strongest teams in the region and McNeese is always a very good squad,” said Elliott. “It will be a lot like last year, the same three teams competing for the title. We’re making an effort to win this at home.
“We’ll see what kind of team we have. In a field this small, it’s easier to see how you directly match-up against a team that you’ll be competing against at NCAA Regionals.”
Other teams on hand include Louisiana-Lafayette, UNO, Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls State, Xavier (N.O.), Jackson State and Carson-Newman.
On the men’s side, Likhaya Dayile will look to defend his title of a year ago. Dayile has been off to a red-hot start for the Tigers, finishing second out of 253 runners last weekend at the Auburn Invitational. Dayile opened the season with an identical second place finish at the New Mexico Lobo Invitational.
The Tigers will need strong balance across the board if they are to recapture the title for the first time since 1999. Kenny Henry placed ninth at the event a year ago, while Jimmy Wiggins and Ryan Raiford placed 12th and 13th respectively among the Tigers top returnees.
On the women’s side, Susanne Strunz will look to improve upon a 10th place finish a year ago. Strunz has posted strong finishes in each of her first two races of the season, placing third at New Mexico, then 12th out of 241 runners at Auburn a week ago.
Following the LSU Invitational, both teams head to their final SEC tune-up next weekend, the Chilli Pepper Invitational hosted by Arkansas. Both squads will then take the following weekend off before returning to Auburn for the SEC Championships on Oct. 29.