NEW ORLEANS — LSU cross country began the 2002 on a strong note as the men’s team captured first and the women’s team finished third at the season-opening Tulane Invitational Friday evening.
LSU’s men’s scored just 28 points to defeat Birmingham Southern (43) and Tulane (76) who finished second and third, respectively. The Lady Tigers accumulated 61 team points to take home third-place honors. Tulane won the women’s team title scoring 51 points, while New Orleans earned as the runner-up with 57 points.
The Tigers had four of their top-five runners finish in the meet’s top-10 as sophomore Ben Shumaker paced the LSU squad, finishing second overall with a time of 15:27.02. Shumaker led all collegiate runners in the three-mile run as unattached competitor Solomon Kandie was the only athlete to top Shumaker, posting a meet-winning time of 14:48.35.
Fellow sophomore Matt Carroll turned in a top-five performance for the Tigers, clocking a time of 15:35.96 to finish fourth overall. Other runners scoring for LSU included sophomores Jarrett Roche and Nick Accardo and senior Jason Laine. Roche and Accardo finished seventh and eighth, respectively, with times of 15:43.89 and 15:49.25, while Laine came in 14th, posting a mark of 15:56.35.
The Lady Tigers were led also lead by a sophomore in Neisha Bernard-Thomas.
Bernard-Thomas recorded a fourth-place finish with an LSU-best mark of 12:21.04. New Orleans’ Paulina Vondrkova won the women’s individual title pacing the pack, clocking 11:46.00.
Sophomore Katrina Flanders and freshman Michelle Hymel were the only two other Lady Tigers to crack the field’s top-15 as Flanders finished 11th in the two-mile race with a time of 12:45.73 and Hymel followed in 12th with mark of 12:47.08. LSU’s final two scorers on the women’s side came in freshman Sandra Smith and sophomore Sarah Bailey. Smith ran to a 16th-place showing (13:02.77), while Bailey came in at 18th overall (13:05.14).
The Tigers will resume action Sat., Sept. 14 at the UNM Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. before returning home Sept. 28 for their only home meet of the season, the LSU Invitational.
TULANE INVITATIONAL
Men’s Individual Results
1. Solomon Kandie, Unatt. 14:48.35
2. Ben Shumaker 15:27.02
4. Matt Carroll 15:35.96
7. Jarrett Roche 15:43.89
8. Nick Accardo 15:49.25
14. Jason Laine 15:56.35
18. Andrew Huston 16:01.58
19. Roland LaBlanc 16:01.95
20. Spencer Drury 16:03.82
31. Andrew Baier 17:04.02
Women’s Individual Results
1. Paulina Vondrkova, NO 11:46.00
4. Neisha Bernard-Thomas 12:21.04
11. Katrina Flanders 12:45.73
12. Michelle Hymel 12:47.08
16. Sandra Smith 13:02.77
18. Sarah Bailey 13:05.14
25. Sara Colosimo 13:12.39
32. Anne Simpson 13.31.00
37. Megan Kliebert 13:47.47
40. Althea Thomas 14:14.71