BATON ROUGE – The LSU cross country team is set to host their annual LSU Invitational meet on Saturday at Highland Road Park in Baton Rouge.
The Lady Tigers will begin the meet 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.
Four groups will be participating at the LSU Invitational, including high school girls, college women, high school boys and college men. The high school girls will start at 7:30 a.m. and the high school boys will follow at 8:45 a.m.
This year the race will feature a newly-designed 5k course for both men and women at the high school and college levels. The course will be more runner-friendly with smoother transitions from one section to another producing faster times than in past seasons.
Fourteen teams will be participating at the college level at the meet. The Lady Tigers will be competing against Alcorn State, Loyola-New Orleans, LSU, New Orleans, Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana and Xavier-Louisiana. The Tigers will race against Jackson State, Loyola-New Orleans, New Orleans, Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana and Xavier-Louisiana.
Both the men and women are coming off strong performances last Friday at the Rice Invitational Meet as the Lady Tigers finished third and the Tigers finished fifth.
Seniors Philip Primeaux and Andria Aguilar look to build on their personal top ten finishes last meet.
Racing with Aguilar will be senior Andrea Maxwell, junior Morgan Schuetz, sophomores Danielle Avery, Elizabeth Dunning, Chaiss Matthews, Jenna Walker, and Ashley Welborn, and freshmen Carley Boyce, Hannah Deworth, and Rebecca Little.
Senior Bryan Mutell, junior Travis Pope, and freshmen DC Lipani, Joe St. Cyr, Bryan Stamey, Daniel Tanner, and Evan Wesslund will join Primeaux to race for the Tigers.
This year marks the return of the LSU Invitational since 2012. Last year’s meet was canceled due to weather. The Lady Tigers placed first at the LSU Invitational in 2012 with a score of 17, and the men finished in second place behind Lamar University with a score of 72.
Next on the LSU cross country schedule is the McNeese Cowboy Stampede. The Tigers and Lady Tigers travel to Lake Charles, La. Sept. 27. The women will race at Enos Darbonne Recreation Complex at 8:45 a.m. and the men will start at 9:15 a.m.
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.