BATON ROUGE — For the first time in school history LSU placed a runner in the top five in both the men’s and women’s SEC Cross Country Championships at Indian Pines Golf Course in Auburn, Ala.
While both teams experienced individual success, from top-to-bottom they did not get the kind of team results they desired, as the Tigers finished seventh and the Lady Tigers eighth overall.
Likhaya Dayile came up with the Tigers’ first top five SEC finish since 1994, placing fifth, while Susanne Strunz matched Dayile’s fifth place finish in the women’s race, becoming just the fourth Lady Tiger to ever finish in the top five at the conference meet.
“We got some great individual performances today from our top runners, but cross country is a sport where you have to be able to put together five strong outings to be competitive and we weren’t able to do that,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “I’m pleased with some of our results today but I don’t think our team finishes are indicative of the type of team we have.”
Dayile continued one of the finest seasons in LSU cross country history, navigating the men’s 8-kilometer course in 24 minutes 22.27 seconds. Dayile’s finish is the highest by a Tiger since Passmore Furusa placed second in 1994.
Jimmy Wiggins continued to impress and placed 24th for the Tigers, running a time of 25:29.12. Ryan Raiford finished 42nd, followed by Kenny Henry and Tomario Thomas in 47th and 48th respectively to round out the Tigers’ top five finishers.
David Kimani of Alabama won his second consecutive conference title, edging Craig Alistair of Arkansas but just two seconds with a winning time of 23:46.93.
Alistair’s Razorbacks got a measure of revenge in the team competition, however, winning the team title with Alabama finishing second. Tennessee placed third, followed by Florida and Kentucky to round out the top five.
For Arkansas, it was their 11th consecutive SEC title since joining the league in 1991.
In the women’s competition, Strunz came up with a huge personal best time, finishing the women’s 6k course in 19:47.46 to post the highest conference finish by a Lady Tiger since Silje Rasmussen and Charlotte Mayock went 4-5 at the 1996 SEC Championships.
Marian Burnett placed 31st in a time of 21:02.84, followed by Katie Denton in 49th, Katrina Flanders in 56th and Lindsay Daigle in 63rd to round out the Lady Tigers’ five scorers.
Arkansas used a 1-2 finish from Andreina Byrd and Christine Wurth to take their fourth straight team title. Byrd posted a winning time of 19:07.29.
Tennessee finished second, followed by Florida, Auburn and Vanderbilt to round out the top five teams.
LSU will take this weekend off before returning to action on Nov. 10 at the NCAA South Central Regional hosted by Texas A&M with a berth in the NCAA Championships at stake.
SEC Championships
Indian Pines Golf Course
Auburn, Ala.
Men’s Team Scoring
1, Arkansas, 24. 2, Alabama, 85. 3, Tennessee, 92. 4, Florida, 97. 5, Kentucky, 125. 6, Georgia, 165. 7, LSU, 166. 8, Auburn, 182. 9, Ole Miss, 285. 10, Vanderbilt, 300.
Men’s Individual 8k Results (Top 10)
1, David Kimani, Alabama, 23:46.93. 2, Craig Alistar, Arkansas, 23:48.83. 3, Daniel Lincoln, Arkansas, 24:07.61. 4, Silverus Kimel, Arkansas, 24:18.08. 5, Likhaya Dayile, LSU, 24:22.27. 6, Ryan Demers, Tennessee, 24:25.13. 7, Jason Sandfort, Arkansas, 24:37.33. 8, Dirk Heinze, Arkansas, 24:41.81. 9, Thomas Morgan, Kentucky, 24:42.88. 10, Mike Swope, Georgia, 24:46.75.
Women’s Team Scoring
1, Arkansas, 35. 2, Tennessee, 71. 3, Florida, 118. 4, Auburn, 120. 5, Vanderbilt, 122. 6, Georgia, 176. 7, South Carolina, 199. 8, LSU, 204. 9, Mississippi State, 205. 10, Kentucky, 226. 11, Alabama, 235. 12, Ole Miss, 356.
Women’s Individual 6k Results (Top 10)
1, Adreina Byrd, Arkansas, 19:07.29. 2, Christine Wurth, Arkansas, 19:33.55. 3, Sharon Dickie, Tennessee, 19:36.28. 4, Erin Merten, Florida, 19:44.04. 5, Susanne Strunz, LSU, 19:47.46. 6, Penny Splichal, Arkansas, 19:49.66. 7, Jackie Seibert, Georgia, 19:53.91. 8, Caitlin Phillips, Kentucky, 19:56.67. 9, Alexis Hamblet, Auburn, 19:58.77. 10, Brooke Novak, Tennessee, 20:04.79.