BATON ROUGE — LSU’s 2004 cross country season gets underway Saturday when the men’s and women’s teams travel to Albuquerque, N.M. for the UNM Lobo Invitational.
The meet will take place at the UNM North Golf Course with the women’s 6K run beginning at 9:20 a.m. and the men’s 8K race following at 9:50 a.m.
The field of competitors will include 10 of the top teams from throughout Texas and New Mexico as Texas Tech, Texas A&M, UTEP and New Mexico, among others, are all slated to run.
LSU will use the meet as a barometer for where it stands at this point in the season.
“At this meet we are just trying to figure out where we are as a team,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “We are traveling more athletes than usual, 10 on each side, in hopes of getting a feel for where we are as a group right now.”
Both the Tiger and Lady Tigers are expected to field improved squads from a year ago as both return some dependable veterans and add a few talented new faces.
Elliott feels the Tigers have eight athletes that will provide them with a solid base of runners in the coming weeks. Headlining that group is senior Sam Mwape. Mwape is coming off a successful season on the track that saw him climb into LSU’s all-time top 10 list in the 5,000 meters.
On the women’s side, LSU will once again be led by senior Katie Denton. Denton was the Lady Tigers’ top finisher in each of her seven races a year ago. She will be challenged by newcomer Ruth Nanyinza who proved to be one of the Lady Tigers’ top middle distance threats last season.
Following the UNM Lobo Invitational, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will take a week off before hosting their only home meet of the season, the LSU Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 25 at Highland Road Park.