BATON ROUGE, La. — For the second straight year the LSU cross country team will be traveling to Waco, Texas, for the NCAA South Central Regional Championships to be held Saturday morning at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
The men’s 10K race will begin at 10 a.m. and will be followed by the women’s 6K run at 11:15 a.m.
Over 20 teams on both the men’s and women’s sides will be vying for a berth to the NCAA Championships to be held in Waterloo, Iowa, on Nov. 24. The top two teams in each race as well as the top four individuals, not on a qualifying team, will advance to the championship meet.
Both the men’s and women’s races should be hotly contested battles as Arkansas enters the men’s race as the heavy favorite, having won 24 of the last 27 regional titles, including 13 straight heading into Saturday’s meet. Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas will all be on the Razorbacks heels as they enter the contest ranked second, third and fourth in the region, respectively.
On the women’s side, host Baylor enters the meet with the region’s No. 1 ranking. The Bears will be challenged by perennial power, Arkansas, who has won the last two regional titles as well as 11 of the last 13 crowns. Also in contention for a trip to the national championships should be Texas and TCU, who are ranked second and third, respectively, in the regional rankings.
LSU enters the meet ranked 10th regionally on the men’s side, while receiving votes in the women’s poll. Both teams will look to improve upon their finishes from a year ago as the Tigers placed 14th overall and the Lady Tigers were 13th.
“We are aiming for a good showing at the regional meet,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “As a team we hope to finish the season on a good note and hopefully advance Jimmy (Wiggins) and Katie (Denton) to the NCAA Championships.”
Wiggins, a junior from Covington, La., would be the first LSU athlete to qualify to the NCAA Championships in two years, as Likhaya Dayile was the last to do so during the 2001 season. Wiggins, a two-time SEC athlete of the week selection, has led the Tigers to the finish line in each of his five races this season, recording three top-15 finishes.
Denton, who has paced the Lady Tigers in each of her six races this year, owns the Lady Tigers’ top time in the 6K (22:43.90).