BATON ROUGE — Behind a meet-winning 25:59.10 performance by junior Jimmy Wiggins, the Tigers captured the men’s LSU Invitational team title for the second straight year, while the Lady Tigers placed third Saturday at Highland Road Park.
The Tigers posted a final score of 62 points to outrun in-state foes Louisiana Tech and McNeese State who finished in second and third, respectively, with 79 and 93 points.
On the women’s side, Tulane captured the team title, scoring just 43 points as all five of its scoring runners placed among the field’s top 15. McNeese State followed in second with 75 points, while the Lady Tigers finished in third with a season low 95 points.
“The team did extremely well today,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “I always like to measure the team against the competition in the state and I couldn’t be more pleased their performances.
“Coaches always expect a lot and I felt that both the men and women ran better then I anticipated, so I couldn’t be more happy.”
Running in just his second race of the season, Wiggins easily topped the men’s field of 91 competitors, defeating runner-up Carlos Arrizon of Louisiana Tech by over 15 seconds.
“I believe Jimmy (Wiggins) is the first LSU athlete since Passmore Furusa to win the LSU Invitational,” said Elliott. “He ran extremely well and I know he felt it was an easy race for him. It’s great to see how he has developed from a walk on to one of the top runners in the conference.”
Following Wiggins across the finish line were a trio of Tigers in Roland LeBlanc (27:10.20), Jarett Roche’ (27:11.50) and Nick Accardo (27:13.20) who finished in 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively.
The Lady Tigers were led by junior Katie Denton for the third straight week as she finished fifth overall with time of 22:43.90. The Baton Rouge native shaved over a minute and a half off her previous season-best 6K mark of 24:15.
Sophomore Michelle Hymel was just as impressive finishing ninth with a season-best time of 23:16.80. She was followed by Sarah Colosimo (24:14.60) in 24th, Jennifer Radecker (24:21.30) in 30th and Katrina Flanders (24:25.20) in 31st.
Both the LSU men’s and women’s cross country team will take next weekend off as they rest up for the Auburn Invitational, Oct. 10 in Auburn, Ala.
LSU INVITATIONAL
Team Results
Men
1. LSU 62
2. Louisiana Tech 79
3. McNeese St. 93
4. Tulane 118
5. UL-Lafayette 143
6. UL-Monroe 153
7. SE Louisiana 173
8. South Alabama 191
9. Xavier 240
10. New Orleans 255
11. Nicholls St. 269
12. Alcorn St. 324
Women
1. Tulane 43
2. McNeese St. 75
3. LSU 95
4. New Orleans 132
5. South Alabama 145
6. UL-Lafayette 154
7. SE Louisiana 186
8. Nicholls St. 219
9. West Florida 221
10. Loyola (N.O.) 279
10. UL-Monroe 279
12. Xavier 306
13. Alcorn St. 334
LSU Individual Results (Winner plus all LSU finishers)
Men
1, Jimmy Wiggins, 25:59.10. 14, Roland LeBlanc, 27:10.20. 15, Jarett Roche’, 27:11.50. 16, Nick Accardo, 27:13.20. 20, 27:19.00. 21, Ben Shumaker, 27:21.80. 22, James Presley, 27:22.10. 25, Jace Gohres, 27:24.70. 30, Ryan Lenaghan, 27:54.00. 51, Douglas Fields, 29:21.60. 54, Matt Carroll, 29:38.20.
Women
1, Helen Kibby, McNeese State, 22:32.10. 5, Katie Denton, 22:43.90. 9, Michelle Hymel, 23:26.80. 24, Sarah Colosimo, 24:14.60. 30, Jennifer Radecker, 24:21.80. 31, Katrina Flanders, 24:25.20. 33, Sarah Bailey, 24:47.10. 48, Kate Accardo, 25:21.00. 53, Megan Kliebert, 25:34.00. 70, Whitney Mitchell, 26:24.00.