BATON ROUGE — A sweep of the men’s and women’s team titles and individual victory by sophomore Rachael Graham highlighted a successful morning of competition for LSU at the LSU Tiger Cross Country Festival at Highland Road Park.
The Lady Tigers took home the team crown, tallying just 30 team points.
Tulane earned runner-up honors with 44 points.
“I though the women ran well today,” said LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott. “They actually performed better than I expected but that is what you should do on your home course.”
Individually, Graham picked up her first collegiate victory, finishing the 6K course in a speedy 22:50.84.
“Rachael is coming on very well,” said Elliott. “Each time she runs she is developing more and more confidence. She wants and expects to do extremely well.”
Following Graham across the finish line for LSU was Megan Broussard. The junior just missed a top-five showing, placing sixth in 23:33.01.
On Broussard’s heels were sophomore Jennifer Stark and junior Katie Dawson who placed seventh and eighth, respectively, with times of 23:41.23 and 23:50.65.
Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Tigers was junior Lindsay Day. She crossed the line in 24:10.70.
On the men’s side, LSU finished with just 26 points as all five of its scoring runners finished among the top 15.
“As a team it is great to win but from and individual standpoint I didn’t feel like we had any outstanding performers,” said Elliott. “I think if you asked any of the athletes they would feel the same way. But I guess it’s good to have a bad day individually and still come out the winner, that’s the goal.”
Leading all Tiger performers was senior Drew Haro. The New Orleans native finished the 8K course in 27:18.41 to place fifth overall.
Just outside the top-five was freshman Michael Florek who finished in sixth with a time of 27:39.18.
Also picking up top-10 finishes were seniors Matthew Guy and Jace Gohres.
Guy placed ninth in 28:03.46, while Gohres followed in 10th with a time of 28:11.61.
Up next, both the Tigers and Lady Tigers travel to Auburn, Ala., for the Auburn Invitational on Sept. 30.
TEAM RESULTS
Men
1. LSU, 26
2. Grambling State, 60
3. UL-Lafayette, 64
4. Southeastern Louisiana, 93
5. Xavier, 126
6. Belhaven, 172
Women
1. LSU, 30
2. Tulane, 44
3. Southeastern Louisiana, 94
4. UL-Lafayette, 105
5. South Alabama, 147
6. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 148
7. Grambling State, 164
8. Xavier, 199
9. Loyola (N.O.), 265
10. Belhaven, 277
INDIVDIUAL RESULTS (Winner plus all LSU competitors)
Men
1, Vincent Rono, South Alabama, 25:22.84. 5, Drew Haro, 27:18.41. 6, Michael Florek, 27:39. 18. 9, Matthew Guy, 28:03.46. 10, Jace Gohres, 28:11.61. 13, Jeffrey Parker, 28:40.10. 15, Alan Sticker, 29:05.68. 16, Harold Boutte, 29:06.66. 19, Jonathan Thomas, 29:18.29. 23, Jeff Adolph, 29:29.97. 30, Brett Borne, 30:32.44.
Women
1. Rachael Graham, 22:50.84. 6, Megan Broussard, 23:33.01. 7, Jennifer Stark, 23:41.23. 8, Katie Dawson, 23:46.78. 13, Lindsay Day, 24:10.70. 15, Erin Vandivort, 24:13.99. 16, Christy Zirkle, 24:29.55. 18, Sarah Colosimo, 24:51.18.