BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s and women’s cross country team will conclude their season on Monday when they compete in the SEC Championships in Starkville, Miss.
The Bulldogs will host the races, which will be held at the Mississippi State Cross Country Course. The women’s 6K race is slated for 10 a.m., while the men’s 8K will begin at 11 a.m.
Twelve women’s team and 11 men’s team will compete for the conference title. The Arkansas Razorbacks are the defending champions on both sides.
On the men’s side the SEC has four teams ranked in the USTFCCCA Cross Country Division-I National Polls, led by No. 5 Alabama. Auburn ranks No. 11 followed by No. 26 Arkansas and No. 28 Florida.
The Arkansas women and the Florida women are the only two teams entering the meet ranked in the USTFCCCA Division I National Poll. The Razorbacks are No. 13, while the Gators are No. 14. Tennessee is receiving votes.
Both LSU squads will be looking to improve on their finishes at this meet a year ago. The men’s squad placed eighth overall, as the women took ninth place.
Junior Jacob Simmons is expected to the lead the men’s squad as he has done in three of the Tiger’s four races this season. He also holds one of the SEC’s top times in the four mile race, which is 25:12.64.
On the women’s side Elliot would consider a finish in the middle portion of the standing, the Lady Tigers continue to improve on performance and strength.
The Lady Tigers will be anchored by lone senior Christina Porter. She has been the LSU’s top finisher in each of its four races this season. She enters the meet ready to improve on her last year’s finish of 23:24.74.
Overall, Elliott feels both his squads are prepared for the talented competitions they will face at the SEC Championship.