FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up regular season competition Saturday morning at the Chile Pepper Invitational with the men’s team finishing 25th and the women finishing 27th.
No.4 Oklahoma State paced the 33 men’s teams with a first-place finish of 21 points in the 10K event. Texas Tech won the 6K women’s meet with 35 points.
Colby Lowe from Oklahoma State won the men’s race with a 29:30.90, while Lillian Badaru from Texas Tech won the women’s meet with a 20:31.52.
“The Chile Pepper Invitational is one of the best meets in the country,” LSU cross country coach Mark Elliott said. “There’s always a lot of tough competition here and a lot of teams, but I just think as a team we’re not as strong as we want to be. With the SEC Championships coming up and less teams participating, we’re looking forward to putting out a stronger performance.”
Leading the LSU men for the third consecutive meet was sophomore Cullen Doody, who clocked a 32:51.55 in the 10K race. A pack of Tigers finished a minute after Doody with Tim Landry, Kyle Hecker, Sean Swanner and Frank Bohn finishing within 10 seconds of one another.
“I was a little disappointed with how the men finished,” Elliott said. “They were well rested; I just think the distance got to them. The SEC meet is only an 8K, so hopefully they can put out their best race of the year there.”
Freshman Charlene Lipsey paced the Lady Tigers with a 23:23.97 in the 6K event. Finishing right behind Lipsey was sophomore Jenna Henssler with a 23:24.06.
Henssler, Laura Carleton and Lauren Ybarzabal all set personal best times in the 6K. Carleton clocked a 23:32.09, nearly 30 seconds better than her time at the Chile Pepper Invitational last season, and eight seconds faster than her time at the NCAA South Central Regional in 2008.
Ybarazabal’s time of 24:57.97 was nearly two minutes faster than her previous times at the Chile Pepper Invitational and NCAA South Central Regional in 2008.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will have a week off before traveling to Oxford, Miss. to compete in the SEC Championships on October 31.
Men’s Results
1. Oklahoma State 21
2.Oklahoma 54
3. Arkansas 89
4. Virginia Tech 98
5. Texas Tech 214
6. Loyola-Marymount 222
7. Missouri 223
8. McNeese State 232
9. Arkansas-Little Rock 278
10. Texas-San Antonio 292
25. LSU 700
1, Colby Lowe, 29:30.90. 135, Cullen Doody, 32:51.55. 174, Tim Landry, 33:49.55. 178, Kyle Hecker, 33:53.47. 179, Sean Swanner, 33:56.11. 180, Frank Bohn, 33:58.17. 185, Ken Ehrhardt, 34:02.90. 193, Kyle Steele, 34:14.54. 198, Luke Dessauer, 34:20.45. 204, Kenneth Schiffman, 34:32.88. 208, Paras Shah, 34:38.23. 211, Roger Cooke, 34:51.79.
Women’s Results
1. Texas Tech 35
2. BYU 77
3. Arkansas 87
4. Missouri 165
5. SMU 179
6. Oklahoma State 185
7. Loyola-Marymount 196
8. Missouri State 286
9.Texas A&M-CC 312
10. Baylor 361
27. LSU 665
1, Lillian Badaru, Texas Tech, 20:31.52. 118, Charlene Lipsey, 23:23.97. 119, Jenna Henssler, 23:24.06. 134, Laura Carleton, 23:32.09. 197, Kayann Thompson, 24:46.37. 203, Lauren Ybarzabal, 24:57.97. 207. Amal Esmail, 25:12.07.