BATON ROUGE — After nearly a month off the LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action this Saturday when they travel to Auburn, Ala., for the Auburn Invitational.
The meet will be held at the Indian Pines Golf Course with action beginning at 9:30 a.m. with the men’s 8K race. The women’s 5K run will follow at 10:30 a.m.
“A month off seems like a long time, but it has given us a good opportunity to train,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “The team has had some time to think about their last performance and what they need to improve. I think we are much more prepared heading into this meet and I believe we’ll do much better.”
LSU will have the chance to test its preparedness against a large field as nearly 30 teams are scheduled to run in both the men’s and women’s races. The Tigers and Lady Tigers will also get their first glimpse at some of this year’s SEC competition as conference foes Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt highlight the field.
“This meet has been good competition-wise,” said Elliott. “We should be able to come away with a pretty good idea of where we are as a team and how we stand in the conference at this point in the season.”
LSU will look to senior Patrick Gavin and junior Kate Accardo to pace the men’s and women’s squads, respectively. Gavin was the Tigers’ top performer at the season-opening Lobo Invitational, finishing the 8K race in 26:24, while Accardo led the Lady Tigers at that same meet, completing the 6K course in 24:14.
Following the Auburn Invitational, the Tigers and Lady Tigers return to action Oct. 15 when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Chile Pepper Invitational.