ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– LSU’s men’s and women’s cross country teams turned in impressive season-opening performances Saturday, as the Tigers finished third and Lady Tigers placed fifth at the UNM Lobo Invitational.
“This is the best position we have finished in in awhile,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “For the first meet this was much more than I expected. I couldn’t have asked for a better performance.”
Behind a pair of top-10 finishes by senior Jimmy Wiggins and junior Patrick Gavin the Tigers tallied 105 points to finish behind meet champion New Mexico (35) and runner-up Texas A&M (67).
Wiggins placed sixth overall, finishing the 8K course in 25:54, while Gavin was just off that pace, placing seventh in 26:03.
On the women’s side, Texas Tech scored just 26 points in taking home the team title. Texas A&M (47), New Mexico (90), UTEP (101) and LSU (128) rounded out the top five.
Individually, senior Katie Denton highlighted the Lady Tigers’ race, finishing the 6K course in 23:14. The time, good enough for an 11th-place finish, was over a full minute faster than her previous personal best on the course.
Sophomore Jennifer Radecker also knocked over a minute off her PR for the course, crossing the finish line second for the Lady Tigers, and 14th overall, with a time of 24:19.
The LSU cross country teams will take next weekend off before returning to action Saturday, Sept. 25, when they host their only home meet of the season at Highland Road Park.