BATON ROUGE — Due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Baton Rouge area LSU head track and field coach Dennis Shaver announced Wednesday that the LSU Cross Country Invitational scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24, at Highland Road Park has been cancelled.
With numerous evacuees still residing in area hotels, housing for the nearly 200 athletes scheduled to participate in the meet could not be guaranteed.
“We were really looking forward to hosting this meet, but with the situation that exists in the area right now having the event became complicated,” said Shaver. “Once teams were notified that their rooms were no longer available we knew a decision had to be made.
“We feel we did what was in the best interest of the community and the teams involved. We wanted to let teams know about the cancellation as soon as possible so they could find an additional meet to add to their schedule,” added Shaver.
The Tigers’ cross country meet was scheduled to feature high school and open division races in addition to its annual collegiate competition.
“We added some races to the meet this year and we regret not having the opportunity to the host the event,” said Shaver. “However, we look forward to starting back up next year.”
Both the Tiger and Lady Tiger cross country teams open the season this Saturday at the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.