BATON ROUGE — Behind individual champions Jimmy Wiggins and Ruth Nanyinza both the LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams captured their first victories of the season Saturday, winning the LSU Invitational at Highland Road Park.
“I feel like both teams ran well today and improved on their performances from two weeks ago,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “We knew we had a chance to win both races coming in and it was good to see them get it done at home.”
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers tallied just 29 points in taking home the pair of team titles. UL-Lafayette (54) and Southeastern Louisiana (54) rounded out the top-three in the men’s race, while Tulane (84) and New Orleans (87) finished second and third, respectively on the women’s side.
Wiggins led a trio of top-five performances by the Tigers. The senior from Covington finished the 8K race in 25:31.55 to top the closest competitor by over 24 seconds. Senior Sam Mwape and sophomore Dew Haro finished in fourth and fifth, respectively, crossing the line in 26:07.10 and 26:15.15.
Junior Roland LeBlanc (26:49.11) and freshman Michael Hendry (26:49.11) completed the scoring for the Tigers, placing ninth and 10th overall.
For the women, Nanyinza came out victorious, finishing the 6K course in 22:05.65. Senior Katie Denton wasn’t far behind, placing third with a time of 22:19.53.
Sophomores Jennifer Radecker (22:55.93) and Erin Vandivort (23:24.21) and freshman Megan Broussard (23:26.73) rounded out the list of scorers for the Lady Tigers as all finished among the field’s top-10.
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers will take two weeks off before returning to action Monday, Oct. 11 at the Auburn Invitational.
LSU INVITATIONAL
Team Results
MEN
1. LSU, 29. 2. UL-Lafayette, 54. 3. SE Louisiana, 84. 4. Tulane, 103. 5. McNeese State, 110. 6. New Orleans, 146. 7. Jackson State, 202. 8. Nicholls State, 246. 9. Alcorn State, 249. 10. Southern-NO, 298.
WOMEN
1. LSU, 29. 2. Tulane, 84. 3. New Orleans, 87. 4. UL-Lafayette, 125. 5. SE Louisiana, 155. 6. Nicholls State, 172. 7. Loyola-NO, 183. 8. McNeese State, 216. 9. Xavier-LA, 224. 10. Grambling State, 226. 11. Alcorn State, 300. 12. Southern-NO, 364.
Individual Results (All LSU competitors)
MEN
1. Jimmy Wiggins, 25:31.55. 4. Sam Mwape, 26:07.10. 5. Drew Haro, 26:15.15. 9. Roland LeBlanc, 26:49.11. 10. Michael Hendry, 26:49.11. 11. Andrew Huston, 26:55.79. 12. Matthew Guy, 26:57.63. 13. Jim Presley, 26:59.41. 25. Jace Gohres, 27:51.63.
WOMEN
1. Ruth Nanyinza, 22:05.65. 3. Katie Denton, 22:19.53. 6. Jennifer Radecker, 22:55.93. 9. Erin Vandivort, 23:24.21. 10. Megan Broussard, 23:26.73. 12. Lindsay Day, 23:39.34. 14. Michelle Hymel, 23:44.51. 15. Neisha Bernard-Thomas, 23:45.75. 19. Sarah Colosimo, 24:03.43. 21. Lynley Roche’, 24:31.47. 28. Kate Accardo, 25:04.86. 41. Katie Dawson, 25:44.44. 43. Mesue Francis, 25:48.76.