HOUSTON – Seniors Philip Primeaux finished in seventh place and Andria Aguilar finished in eighth place overall to lead the LSU men’s and women’s cross country teams to top-five finishes at the Rice Invitational Cross Country Meet held Friday at the Rice Intramural Fields.
The Lady Tigers finished third overall with a score of 97, while the men finished fifth overall with a score of 139.
Aguilar led the Lady Tigers, finishing eighth out of 92 runners in the 4k course. Aguilar clocked 13 minutes, 56 seconds to finish 33 seconds behind first-place finisher Cali Roper of Rice.
Junior Morgan Schuetz placed 15th for the women and sophomore Chaiss Matthews came in 20th. Schuetz clocked 14:16. Matthews crossed the finish line shortly after Schuetz with a time of 14:27.
Sophomore Ashley Welborn and freshman Andrea Maxell finished in the top 30 for the Lady Tigers. Welborn placed 25th, while Maxwell placed 29th.
“I am pleased with the women’s performance tonight,” cross country head coach Khadevis Robinson said. “We competed well against some teams in our region. We are really close to becoming a solid competitive team. Andi Aguilar put herself in a position to finish really well. The women are close to something good.”
On the men’s team, Primeaux placed seventh out of 91 runners in the 6k course. He finished with a time of 17:22. Houston’s Brian Barraza took home first place with a time of 16:57. Junior Travis Pope finished shortly after Primeaux, clocking 17:47 for a 20th-place finish.
Philip Dempsey and Jack Wilkes posted solid performances for the Tigers, finishing in the top 40. Dempsey clocked 18:00 for a 27th-place finish. Wilkes crossed the line 19 seconds after Dempsey for a 39th-place finish.
“The men are still coming together,” Robinson said. “Once the freshmen adapt, I think we will be pretty good. Philip Primeaux ran really well. He is on to a good start.”
The Tigers will return to Baton Rouge to host the LSU Invitational at Highland Road Park on Sept. 20. The women will begin at 8:05 a.m. CDT, and the men will start shortly behind at 9:15 a.m. as each will compete on the 5k course.
For the latest information on LSU’s men’s and women’s cross country teams, fans can follow the Tigers and Lady Tiger on Twitter @LSUTrackField and on Facebook by liking LSU Track & Field.